Stakeholders’ perceptions on teaching and learning arts and humanities in East Africa: Rwanda’s stake

Abstract

This study aims at building a positive perception towards the teaching and learning of arts and humanities and advocating for their scholarship given their value in the cultivation of human development in East Africa. The study is anchored in the stakeholders’ theory of salience that claims that once latent stakeholders (who belong to arts and humanities) are supported via policy intervention, they survive. Without this support, scholarship and research in arts and humanities are adversely affected. Participants from four East African Community member states, i.e. Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya were involved. The findings show that the general public has less consideration of the teaching and learning of arts and humanities subjects with different and mixed perceptions such as fewer opportunities for employability, inability to justify its raison d’être and showcase its technological, scientific and economic contributions, inability to attract research funds, to name but a few. However, the contribution of arts and humanities to the human development ranging from their maintenance of a democratic society, literacy, creativity, resilience, understanding, critical thinking, communicative skills, and practical judgment to long-term civic results is also depicted. Hence, to ensure their survival, there should be a political will to promote them in one way or another.