KICUKIRO-At long last the Independent Institute of Lay Adventists of Kigali (INILAK) is scheduled to hold its first graduation ceremony on July 26.

The institute that was compelled to lose its university status in the process to get a definitive operating licence is now on course to awarding degrees to students who had earlier completed but could not graduate since the institute had not yet been accredited.

According to the institute’s Public Relations Officer Ferdinand Mbonaruza, students have been picking their gowns to get ready for the historical day.

The first candidates completed in 2003 and since then they have been completing in hundreds every year.

He said that those to graduate are students who completed in the faculties of law and economic sciences.
Mbonaruza explained that the event might attract thousands, which prompted management of the institute to hold the event at Nyamirambo regional stadium.

"The first target was Amahoro stadium but we were told there will be a football game, so we opted for Nyamirambo stadium,” he said.

Education Minister Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa is expected to confer the degrees to the graduates.

The Kigali-based institute has strived for long to acquire an operating licence and at one time, the issue attracted the attention of parliamentarians who had grilled the then education minister Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya over the issue.

The lawmakers had been irked by the discrimination to which the graduate-candidates from the school had undergone at different places of work despite having completed their respective courses.

INILAK was finally accredited last month and was published in the Official Gazette.

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