NYAGATARE - Over 700 students were on Wednesday were stranded at Umutara Polytechnic University after being notified that they were not eligible for Government sponsorship.

The students who talked to The New Times accused the Students Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR) of removing them from the original list of students who had qualified for government sponsorship.

But both the university authorities and SFAR have dismissed their claims. The students had stayed at the university for the last four days.

‘Our names were published in Imvaho, but surprisingly on reaching here we did not find our names on the list of those who are supposed to be under government sponsorship,’ one of the students said.

‘Where do they expect us to go?” another student asked. "We were told too late. We finished registration and everything and imagine they informed us about this yesterday.’

The Director General of SFAR, Emmanuel Muvunyi, said that there was no basis for the students to complain.
‘Students only based on the list that appeared in a government weekly run news paper (Imvaho).

This list only indicated students who have been admitted in the respective universities which has nothing to do with SFAR,’ Muvunyi said.

‘The students just failed to draw a line between university admissions and the SFAR scholarship process,’ he added.

By Wednesday evening, the affected students were still at the university, with some vowing not to leave the campus until their issue is resolved. 

The university Vice Rector in charge of academics, Dr. Eugene Ndabaga, however, said the students would not be allowed to remain at the university. 

‘They have to leave because the Minister of Education passed a clear message. We shall call the police to arrest those who vow not to leave the campus,’ he said.

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