A total of thirty-two students-16 male and 16 female -has been admitted to the Kepler University branch located in Kiziba Refugee Camp in Karongi District. Speaking during a recent induction ceremony, the Academic Leadership Coach at Kepler, Ashley Haywood urged the new students to respect academic rules and regulations as the way to success.
A total of thirty-two students-16 male and 16 female -has been admitted to the Kepler University programme located in Kiziba Refugee Camp in Karongi District.
Speaking during a recent induction ceremony, the Academic Leadership Coach at Kepler, Ashley Haywood urged the new students to respect academic rules and regulations as the way to success.
"I want to give you some tips, first you need to be always on time, to attend class regularly, and to believe in yourself by doing your own work. Even if you could think your work is wrong, we would rather you have incorrect work that belongs to you than have correct work that belongs to someone else,” she tipped students.
She said Kepler staff cares about seeing students grow and always make sure to remind students where they need to improve.
"When you get feedback from staff that might be difficult for you, like when they will tell you where to improve, know that it is because they are trying to help you grow because they want you to be successful,” she said.
She asked students to note that in some ways Kepler will be different from their past education experience.
"At Kepler it doesn’t matter if you struggle to speak English or maybe you are not so good at Maths or using a computer, but what is important is that you want to learn and you are committed to keep trying,” she told the students.
She told students to be ready to make mistakes, but urged them to learn from it and do better the next time.
Parents, students speak
Faustin Mugisha, a parent whose son was enrolled at Kepler said he was pleased with the opportunity.
"Educating our children in high school was tough to the extent that we didn’t expect them to join university, so based on this unexpected opportunity he got, I advise him to not take it for granted rather to work beyond hard,” he told The New Times.
Mawezo Harindintwali said he luckily got a place to study at Kepler. "This is a surprise, I wished to study university but it was not possible because of financial problems,” he said.
"I will study diligently so that I will get a degree that will help me to compete on the labour market confidently” he added.
This is the third intake of refugee students enrolled in Rwanda Kepler university programme.
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