KIGALI — As Rwanda prepares to open the 2026-2027 academic year in September, thousands of parents are preparing for more than the return of their children to school. They are… The post Rwanda’s ‘Babyeyi’: The School-Year Nightmare Facing Parents appeared first on KT PRESS .
KIGALI — As Rwanda prepares to open the 2026-2027 academic year in September, thousands of parents are preparing for more than the return of their children to school.
They are preparing for the “Babyeyi” — the lists of fees, uniforms, books and other requirements issued by schools before the start of a new academic year.
An investigation by Kigali Today Ltd media group, based on “Babyeyi” documents from 25 schools across Rwanda, has found striking differences in what schools require parents to provide and pay.
The findings come six years after Dr. Isaac Munyakazi, then State Minister in charge of primary and secondary education, warned schools against imposing excessive requirements on parents.
Speaking on January 16, 2020, Munyakazi said: “We will not tolerate this.”
The 2026 School Term One needs by the schools suggest the concerns raised at the time remain relevant. In some schools, the requirements are extensive, covering everything from tuition and uniforms to toilet paper, notebooks, bedding and other supplies.
At Flair Nursery and Day Care Center, whose district is not specified in the documents reviewed, nursery tuition is 900,000 RWF per term.
Parents can pay another 70,000 RWF per term for optional swimming lessons and must provide playing materials worth 30,000 RWF a year. Enrollment also requires two passport photographs of the child and one for each parent.
At Montfort Secondary School Nyamata in Bugesera District, tuition is 499,500 RWF per term.
The school requires 16 notebooks, including five register books, a 90,000 RWF uniform package and a laboratory coat for science students. It also prohibits clothing that is not part of the school uniform.
At Saint Ignatius High School in Kigali’s Kibagabaga area, the listed charges include 310,000 RWF for tuition, 135,000 RWF for lunch, 102,000 RWF for evening study and 20,000 RWF for e-communication.
College Marie Reine de la Paix, whose district is not specified in the documents, charges 350,000 RWF per term and requires more than 20 notebooks, three exam notebooks, a ream of paper, mathematical set, calculator, toilet paper, a 10-litre bucket, water bottle, bedsheets, sports uniform, black shoes and laboratory supplies.
Some of the requirements are unusually specific.
Elena Guerra School in Huye District requires 25 notebooks — four big notebooks, one drawing book, six small notebooks for tests and one communication book.
The school charges between 180,000 and 235,000 RWF per term.
The same school requires 20,000 RWF for dormitory rooms. Boarding students must also provide bedsheets, blankets, mosquito nets, buckets, basins and bathroom supplies.
At Académie La Bénite, whose location is not specified in the documents reviewed, nursery students must have an item called “Igikoma,” costing 30,000 RWF per term.
College Marie Reine de la Paix also sets detailed specifications for clothing.
Students must have a “Jumper sans griffe” — a sweater without a brand mark — while sports shirts must bear the student’s name and the school’s name on both shoulders. The list further specifies white shorts reaching near the knees, black sandals with a rear strap and socks reaching just below the knee.
At New Light Complex Academy in Huye District, nursery students require modelling clay, water paint, felt-tip pens and a “Cache poussière” costing 2,000 RWF.
The school charges 60,000 RWF in term fees.
At Eastern Gate Gaseke School in Mutete Sector, Gicumbi District, pupils must bring 12 toilet papers and 10 tissue papers per term.
The list also includes 12 notebooks, 12 pencils, 10 pens, five notebook covers and 10 erasers.
The school charges 65,000 RWF per term, with additional costs for lunch and transport.
At Glory Academy in Kigali, uniforms cost 90,000 RWF.
The school also requires nursery and primary pupils to bring two reams of paper per term — equivalent to 1,000 sheets.
Term fees at the school range from 240,000 to 300,000 RWF.
At Collège Sainte Marie Reine Kabgayi in Muhanga District, students are required to bring 14 squared notebooks of 200 pages each, two register notebooks, two test notebooks and a ream of paper.
Boarding students must also provide two pairs of bedsheets, a blanket and a bed cover.
Term fees range from 270,000 to 325,000 RWF.
FAWE Girls’ School in Kigali’s Gisizi area requires students to sit baseline assessment tests immediately upon arrival.
Parents are urged to ensure their children revise before returning to school.
The school also warns that students arriving after 12:00 may be sent home and required to return with a parent after seven days.
FAWE charges 92,000 RWF per term.
Groupe Scolaire Kigeme-A in Gisaka Sector, Nyamagabe District, charges 92,000 RWF per term.
But the school also requires 5,000 RWF for school development, 2,800 RWF for the school clinic and 900 RWF for hygiene.
The school refers to a General Assembly of Parents held on June 2, 2024 as having approved its requirements.
Ecole des Sciences Saint Louis de Montfort Nyanza in Busasamana Sector, Nyanza District, also charges 92,000 RWF.
It adds 33,000 RWF for “Agaseke ka babiyeyi,” the parents’ association contribution. That amount is about 36 percent of the basic tuition.
Students are also required to bring a Bible.
Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare, also known as Indatwa n’Inkesha, in Huye District, charges between 85,000 and 124,400 RWF per term.
There is an additional 7,000 RWF hygiene fee, while students are required to bring 20 notebooks.
Cité Nazareth Mbare in Mbare, Muhanga District, offers fees ranging from 65,000 RWF for nursery and day primary pupils to 195,000 RWF for boarding primary and 205,000 RWF for secondary students.
Its requirements include a Bible, water bottle and standard school materials, alongside strict uniform rules.
Across the schools reviewed, the advertised tuition is frequently accompanied by other charges.
Registration fees for new students range from 5,000 to 50,000 RWF.
Insurance costs between 1,200 and 3,000 RWF per term. Lunch or feeding ranges from 35,000 to 150,000 RWF, while transport can cost between 45,000 and 150,000 RWF.
Other charges include 15,000 RWF for computer-lab contributions, 10,000 RWF for teacher motivation, 20,000 RWF for e-communication and 102,000 RWF for evening study.
At Centre Scolaire Georges Defour in Kigali, term fees range from 120,000 to 170,000 RWF.
Parents are also required to pay 10,000 RWF per term for teacher motivation and 7,000 RWF for basic medicine.
For families on lower incomes, these additional charges can significantly change the cost of sending a child to school.
The Babyeyi for Elena Guerra School in Huye, for example, puts the total listed requirements at 298,600 RWF.
For a parent earning 30,000 to 50,000 RWF a month, that amount is equivalent to roughly six to 10 months of income.
The documents also raise questions about where parents are allowed to purchase school supplies.
All 25 schools reviewed require uniforms from designated school tailors.
Several schools also require other materials to be purchased directly from the school.
New Light Academy in Huye states: “Ibikoresho by’ishuri byose bigurirwa ku ishuri” — all school materials are bought at the school.
College Marie Reine de la Paix specifies that only the black Lacoste sweater bearing the child’s name is accepted.
The investigation also found price differences between some school-listed prices and prices commonly found elsewhere.
A scientific calculator costing around 10,000-12,000 RWF elsewhere is listed at 14,000 RWF at school.
A register notebook costing around 2,000-2,500 RWF elsewhere is charged at 3,500 RWF.
School shirts listed at around 7,000-8,000 RWF compare with similar shirts costing about 5,000 RWF elsewhere.
The Babyeyi documents also contain extensive restrictions on student possessions and clothing.
Items prohibited across the schools reviewed include phones, radios, headphones, smart watches, makeup, nail polish, hair extensions, perfumes, deodorants, cameras and irons.
At Cité Nazareth Mbare in Muhanga District, clothing other than the school uniform is prohibited except on weekends.
Pilihan Primary School, whose location is unclear in the documents reviewed, requires that payments not be made through agents.
Its document also contains numerous spelling and grammatical errors that could make some requirements difficult to interpret.
The school charges between 63,000 and 104,000 RWF per term.
For boarding students, the costs extend beyond tuition and boarding fees.
College Marie Reine de la Paix charges 2,000 RWF per term for mattress rental.
Elena Guerra School in Huye charges 20,000 RWF for dormitory rooms.
Parents are also expected to provide bedsheets, blankets, mosquito nets, buckets, basins and bathroom supplies.
The distinction between what is covered by boarding fees and what parents must supply therefore becomes an important part of the overall cost.
Nearly every school reviewed requires Mutuelle de Santé or private insurance as a condition of enrollment.
The documents show insurance-related charges ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 RWF per term in the schools where the amount is specified.
Parents are required to present proof of insurance before children are admitted.
Taken together, the 25 Babyeyi documents show a wide variation in the cost and nature of school requirements across Rwanda.
A child entering New Light Academy in Huye may face a basic term fee of 60,000 RWF, while a child at Montfort Secondary School Nyamata in Bugesera faces tuition of 499,500 RWF.
At GS Kigeme-A in Nyamagabe, parents pay 92,000 RWF before additional requirements such as development, clinic and hygiene contributions.
At Ecole des Sciences Saint Louis de Montfort Nyanza, the same basic tuition is accompanied by a 33,000 RWF parents’ association contribution.
At the higher end, Flair Nursery and Day Care Center requires 900,000 RWF per term for nursery tuition, excluding optional swimming lessons and other requirements.
The documents therefore suggest that the real cost of schooling cannot always be understood by looking at tuition alone.
In 2020, Munyakazi asked: “Urambwira ko ibi umubyeyi adashobora guhaguruka akabyamagana?” — “Are you telling me a parent cannot stand up and denounce this?”
Six years later, parents are once again receiving detailed Babyeyi lists ahead of the new academic year.
The documents reviewed by Kigali Today show that these lists can contain dozens of individual requirements, from tuition and uniforms to notebooks, toilet paper, tissue, bedding, insurance and parent-association contributions.
They also show substantial differences between schools operating in the same region and, in some cases, additional costs that can significantly increase the amount parents must pay.
As schools prepare to reopen in September, the central question is whether the warnings issued in 2020 have translated into effective oversight of the charges and requirements imposed on parents.
For many families, the school year does not begin when the classroom doors open.
It begins when the “Babyeyi” arrives.
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