CIBITOKE, April 28 (ABP) – The minister of national education and scientific research, François Havyarimana, received on Thursday, April 23, 2026, a donation of 546 school des ks provided by UNICEF to the schools of Karurama I and Karurama II. The first school received 306 desks, while the second received 240. The minister Havyarimana thanked UNICEF and its partners for this donation of desks, which comes at the right time to address the acute shortage of desks in these two schools. He specified that the Burundian government has made education a priority in order to train professionals capable of developing other sectors of national life. He encouraged the students to make good use of this equipment to study well so as to properly align with the national vision 2040-2060.
The minister in charge of national education indicated that, to meet the needs for desks, the government has made available eighteen billion Burundian francs so that all communes of the country can use local wood resources to manufacture desks.
Minister Havyarimana took the opportunity to call on administrative and school officials to follow UNICEF’s example by also producing solid and well-made desks, like this batch manufactured by the Alpha CD Technology company. Mr. Havyarimana urged schools to also make hygiene and cleanliness a priority.
For her part, the UNICEF representative, France Bégin, stated that the said donation of desks is part of the government’s strong vision of “Zero child poorly seated” in Burundi’s schools. She explained that this vision reflects a concrete commitment to children’s dignity, equity, and the improvement of learning quality.
She thanked the European Union as the lead partner in education for mobilizing all partners around Burundi’s priorities. She revealed that this activity is part of the “Twige neza” and “Komeza wige” programs, which aim to improve both access to education and the quality of learning in public basic schools, through which 15,893 desks have been manufactured and are being delivered to 116 schools in the provinces of Bujumbura, Burunga, Buhumuza, and Butanyerera.