A probe by the Higher Education Council (HEC) has established that some private Higher Learning Institutions have been admitting students who do not meet the set threshold to join university.

According to the standards set by HEC – which regulates higher learning education in the country – a student who has completed high school is required to present at least two principal passes to be eligible for admission in a university.

Officials at the council explain that the specific threshold of required grades is determined depending on programmes students want to study at university.

For instance, a student who wants to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a health-related field such as medicine must have grades ranging from A to C while a diploma course in the same field requires up to Grade D according to new guidelines.

Article 5 of the Presidential Order N0 081/01 of 28/08/2020 establishing HEC stipulates that the mission of the council is to enhance the quality of education, modes of providing it within higher learning institutions and make sure that graduates from such institutions are knowledgeable for the betterment of the Rwandan residents’ welfare and development of Rwanda.

One of the pillars to ensure that graduates from Higher Learning Institutions are knowledgeable for the development of Rwanda is to admit the candidates who meet the admission requirements into higher education.

However, Rose Mukankomeje told The New Times that a probe whose findings will be published soon found that some universities admit students who have no required principal passes.

There are 27 private universities of which 14 are owned by locals and 13 are international universities.

 "We expect that those private higher learning institutions fulfil the entry requirements for new students. The policy is clear about this: "to enter in higher education a student has to have at least two principal passes in the core subject". The inspection has revealed that there are students who do not have them,” she said.

Mukankomeje didn’t reveal the number of cases and exact universities where they were found but she said that the council is compiling reports from the inspection in all higher learning institutions and soon they will unveil the findings and inform the public.

She said that heavy fines are awaiting those that are not complying with guidelines.

"The new law governing education, which was enacted in February 2021 has a provision in its Article 130 on illegal activities in higher education. There is a penalty for those institutions of an administrative fine of not less than three million Rwandan francs but not exceeding five million Rwandan francs plus the suspension of the faculty,” she said.

She said that if not nipped in the bud, such malpractices could affect quality education and will have a negative impact on skills needed on the labour market.

"If a student has failed in high school, how do you expect him/her to suddenly be brilliant at university? After graduation, it will be very difficult for such person to compete on the labour market,” she said.

What experts say

Evariste Gahima, a researcher in education, said that the Higher Education Council should have a strong monitoring mechanism such that such malpractices are detected early.

"The national qualification framework council could be facing a weakness related to lack of monitoring and evaluation. If there are institutional impediments, then the quality of education will be questioned,” he said.

Arguing that such malpractices may be motivated by the pressure to earn money by the private universities so that they can get return on their investments, Gahima said that private universities should have resilient funding mechanisms.

The pressure to earn money should not compromise the quality of education, he said.

Recently Private Higher Learning Institutions requested the Ministry of Education to devise a framework that can also deploy government-sponsored students to these universities as one of strategies to help them recover from Covid-19 effects.

Commenting on the issue of universities admitting unqualified students, Dr Callixte Kabera, the president of the Private Universities’ Association told The New Times on Thursday that there is need for clear guidelines for all programmes and their entry grades.

Kabera, who is also the vice-chancellor at the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies, also known as RTUC, says the guidelines should be properly interpreted across different programmes.

"Not sure where the cases are but admitting students without required principal passes might be caused by different factors including lacking clear guidelines. For example, those studying TVET, there are no written guidelines on requirements for university admission which makes interpretation of principal passes difficult. There is really confusion,” he said.

He added that combinations and grades have been changing in secondary schools over time, saying that understanding the principal passes might have been a challenge for registrars in universities.

"We believe that after completing secondary education, there must be a clear guiding document indicating those eligible to study in university so that some students do not even waste time applying.”