Graduates have been urged to spearhead innovative thinking to find solutions where others failed, especially in creating jobs to address unemployment.

The remarks were made by Prof. Rwigamba Balinda, the Kigali Independent University (ULK)’s founder and president, at the university’s 13th graduation ceremony yesterday.

A total of 2,986 students graduated with bachelor’s degrees and masters in different disciplines. At least 270 completed postgraduate studies.

Balinda urged the fresh graduates to think positively on their plans ahead to help solve community problems.

"You should have a positive mind about your future and always aim at being agents of social change. We didn’t teach you to go out there to raise unemployment rate but to be a source of jobs instead,” he said.

"Learn from your weaknesses while developing your projects and find a way to address them in order to succeed,” he added.

Dr Ezekiel Sekibibi, the deputy vice-chancellor, told the graduates that Rwandans expect them to make positive impact on the country’s development efforts.

Majority of the undergraduates were female, representing 62.3 per cent.

On the other hand, there were more males in postgraduate class with 63.8 per cent compared to 36.2 per cent females.

Pascal Uwizeyimana, a fresh Finance graduate, said he would seek technical training skills to increase his competiveness on the labour market.

"Education is not over yet for me, because we always need to sharpen our skills… technical skills rank first in my mind as a missing link,” he told Saturday Times.

"Applying for jobs is old-fashioned. We should think of creating jobs to employ other people.”

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