KIGALI - 17,209 Genocide survivors have been able to graduate from university in the last 12 years through the sponsorship of the Fund for Support to Genocide Survivors (FARG).

In an interview with The New Times yesterday, the Executive Secretary of FARG, Ildephonse Niyonsenga, said that the fund was able to cater for the students because of the government’s support.

 The Government of Rwanda channels five percent of its annual budget into the survivors’ fund.

"It has not been easy for FARG to achieve this because of problems that include inefficient data keeping methods which has at times created loopholes,” Niyonsenga said in a telephone interview.

He added that other problems they have been encountering include the dropping out of some students due to various problems, also related to the Genocide, giving an example of some who have dropped out to fend for their younger siblings after being orphaned by the Genocide.

According to Niyonsenga, FARG currently has a total of 4,939 students in several institutions of higher learning in the country.

Meanwhile, statistics from the FARG indicate that the fund is currently taking care of over 39,000 students in upper secondary.

Niyonsenga says that the number would have been more but those in the Nine-Year Basic Education (9-YBE) programme are not included because it’s free.

There has been excessive outcry by the FARG beneficiaries concerning the inefficiencies in getting transportation to and from school in the past, but the fund’s management says that everything is now in order since all students have opened bank accounts where the funds for transport and buying of scholastic materials are deposited.

Every students gets Rwf10,000 for every school term to use for transportation to and from school.

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