University graduates are better equipped to deal with life challenges and should join other members of society in working hard to contribute to the country’s development, President Paul Kagame said.
University graduates are better equipped to deal with life challenges and should join other members of society in working hard to contribute to the country’s development, President Paul Kagame said.
The Head of State delivered the message yesterday to thousands of graduates from University of Rwanda (UR) who were conferred degrees in a graduation ceremony held at Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali.
A total of 8,500 students who graduated from all the university’s six colleges this year gathered at the stadium for the event, clad in their gowns and accompanied by their parents, families, and friends.
Speaking in Kinyarwanda, Kagame welcomed the new graduates back to their communities and urged them to work hard to solve any challenges they will find in their communities.
"You are now joining your parents as partners to work side by side to build our country. I call on you to uphold the right values, work hard for yourselves, your families and your nation,” he said.
This was the university’s third graduation since it was created in 2013 through a merger of seven public universities and institutions of higher learning.
The graduates were released to a tough job market in the country, with official statistics showing that unemployment rate stands at 13.5 per cent among college graduates.
Kagame encouraged them to face the market with a sense of readiness to compete for the jobs that are available in the country and elsewhere around the world while also aiming to create their own jobs.
"Graduation does not mean life gets easier. Challenges ahead are what your education prepared you to face,” he told them.
He emphasised the importance of education, describing it as a key solution for the country’s challenges and a requirement for its development as it helps produce responsible citizens.
"Education means responsibility. The progress of our country can only be founded on the skills and education of its people,” he said.
Many students who graduated yesterday have already embraced the idea of job creation instead of waiting for an indefinite time to land a job through applications.
"My goal is to be able to implement what I learned in school. There are so many jobless people out there but my hope is to start something and improve my life. We shouldn’t care too much about applying for jobs; we need to seek capital and create our own jobs,” said 23-year-old Christine Uwayo who studied irrigation and drainage.
Though she has specialised in irrigation and drainage, she told The New Times that she won’t wait for a job in that area because she has to start working as soon as possible.
Instead, she hopes to start selling her services on a full-time basis at a poultry farm in Gakenke District, Northern Province, where she had been doing internships and part time jobs in the area of animal production during her time in school.
Donat Habiyaremye, a 42-year-old primary school teacher who acquired a diploma in education, advised fellow former students to serve their communities with confidence as a result of what they learned at the university.
The UR’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Philip Cotton, promised Rwandans that the university community will continue to make the institution better through academic excellence.
editorial@newtimes.co.rw