Analysing the importance of e-government in times of disruption: The case of public education in Rwanda during Covid-19 lockdown

The world has been in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic since 2019. The Rwandan Government failed to establish e-government infrastructure to provide e-education during the lockdown (a.k.a Guma mu Rugo or Stay home), resulting in all children having to repeat the academic level they were in when the lockdown started in March 2020. The problems in Rwanda’s education during Covid-19 are partly attributed to the government’s ICT (a.k.a ikorana buhanga in Kinyarwanda) platform which does not prioritise e-education services, government’s inability to provide infrastructures for e-government, and the lack of ICT equipment and skills. Research on the aspects of e-government and e-education in Rwanda is limited. Knowledge is scarce about what happened to public education in Rwanda during the lockdown. This study aimed to explore the effects of the lockdown on Rwanda’s public education and how e-education could have helped provide public education. A desktop research method, involving collecting data from existing sources on e-government and the state of public education in Rwanda during Covid-19, was conducted. The results show that the lockdown has negatively affected public education because the country failed to provide e-education services. To address the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and possible future lockdowns, the Government of Rwanda must establish an e-government infrastructure that provides e-education. It will also need to establish affordable infrastructure in rural areas where it does not exist.