The Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) is considering removing Ubudehe – a socio-economic stratification system based on family assets – as criteria to offer education loans for students in higher learning institutions.

This was announced by the State Minister in charge of Social Affairs at the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Dr Alvera Mukabaramba.

For years, there have been complaints by some students, arguing that their families were put in the wrong categories which do not match their level of wealth, hence being denied scholarships while they cannot afford tuition.

In an interview with The New Times, Mukabaramba said that during the University of Rwanda’s graduation last November in Huye District, Prime Minister, Edouard Ngirente directed that students should not be deprived of their rights to education because of factors such as Ubudehe category.

"We want to discuss that issue with MINEDUC (the Ministry of Education) to completely remove Ubudehe category from the list of criteria considered for a student to get loans, so that they only consider how best a student performed in exams and what they are going to study at university,” she said.

Currently, students from the first, second and third categories and fulfill other requirements, are entitled to government scholarship loans, which they pay back once they graduate and start working.

Ubudehe accounts for 20 percent of the required points for a student to be eligible for a scholarship.

The other two criteria are attaining the required pass grade by the university and subjects in which a student is going to pursue at university, with each accounting for 40 points each.

During the selection of beneficiaries to scholarship loans for higher institutions of learning, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects are prioritised.

Student’s agony

Emmanuel Nizeyimana finished his secondary school studies in the languages combination of English, French and Kinyarwanda (EFK) with grades that were required for him to pursue university studies.

That was in 2016.

But, the outcome did not go his way as he did not get a scholarship and his family couldn’t afford tuition.

Nizeyimana was registered to enroll in the Education faculty (French and English) at the University of Rwanda, but, his academic progress was hindered by poverty.

He partly blamed being put in the wrong Ubudehe category for his being unable to access scholarship.

"I scored 49 out of 73, but, I did not get the loan because my family is in the third Ubudehe category (that of people considered economically able to finance their student’s education). Yet, there are students in the first category (that of the most poor) who got loans despite scoring lower grades (like 43 out of 79) than me,” he told The New Times.

The tuition fee for STEM programmes at UR is Rwf1.5 million per year and Rwf600,000 for non-STEM programmes.

Leo Mugabe, the Coordinator of Rwanda Education for all Coalition (REFAC) – a local NGO that fights for students’ rights, also told The New Times that there are people who were put in Ubudehe categories that do not correspond with their financial capacities, thus preventing them from accessing student loans.

"A loan is a loan. Any student who scored the grades required for university studies should get it. This encourages students to have competitiveness spirit,” he said.

He added that some students in secondary school no longer have the courage to study as they are blocked by the thinking that as they are in a category that does not allow them to get loans.

However, Mutimura told The New Times that it might not be good as a national policy to give the same chances of getting student loans to children from vulnerable families as the children from well-off families.

"When a student is in the third Ubudehe category, they are children of a businessperson, or an official who has money to be able to pay for the tuition of the child either [at a university] outside the country or at the University of Rwanda,” he said.

"If a student from wealthy parent gets the same grade as the student from a vulnerable parent, you give more chances of accessing scholarship to the latter. Ubudehe is a categorisation that gives more chance to the vulnerable than the rich,” he observed calling for the right ubudehe categorisation.

In the academic year 2017-2018, 4,963 students received government scholarships to study at the University of Rwanda, according to the 2018 figures from the University.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com