HUYE - Ten practicing journalists who enrolled for journalism training at the National University of Rwanda-affiliated Great Lakes Media Centre (GLMC), are set to graduate this Friday, an official from the university has confirmed.

Dr Bon Fils Safari the Varsity’s Director of Academic Quality, said that 10 of the 29 students who enrolled for the diploma programme at the Kigali-based centre will be graduated at the University’s main campus in Huye along with 217 others who will be awarded Bachelors and Post Graduate Degrees in different disciplines.

"The ten students have fulfilled the requirements for the award of a diploma in journalism, the rest will graduate next year,” Safari said in an interview.

GLMC was started in 2008 by government and stakeholders mainly to raise the level of journalism performance of practicing journalists.

In an interview with The New Times, Ignatius Kabagambe, the Director General in the Ministry of Information, congratulated the graduands, saying that such training is vital because it equips journalists with the necessary skills in their trade.

"We are moving into a time where journalism and the media will play an important role in national development. This will not be achieved if journalists do not have the skills to do their work, I encourage more journalists in need of training to join the centre,” Kabagambe said.

Pierre Desire Rugenera, one of the students set to graduate from the centre, said that the knowledge attained from the training has greatly impacted on his work as a journalist.

"It was difficult to study while at the same time working, but it was a worthwhile engagement. Most of what we learnt was not entirely new but it is important to learn from the experts in the field,” said Rugenera, formerly working with Rwanda Television

"My wish is to continue the training up to degree level,” he added.

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