A total of 1,908 students graduated at the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) yesterday. 694 of them were females, while eight live with disabilities.

Up to 298 graduands are teachers from Rukara and Kavumu colleges of education, all of whom were awarded with diplomas in education. Both colleges are affiliated to KIE.

191 obtained Bachelors of Arts with Education; 463 graduated with Bachelors of Science with Education; 197 with Bachelors of Social Science with Education; while 235 tutors (for primary teacher colleges) obtained Bachelors of Education degrees.

In other fields, 76 graduands were conferred a Bachelor of Business Studies (Finance and Accounting), 74 graduated with Bachelors Degree in business studies (Management), while 138 were awarded with Bachelor of Office Administration and Management.

A total of 39 members of academic staff from Kigali Health Institute (KHI) and KIE were conferred with a Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

Speaking to The New Times, Jean Bosco Ndayanze, who graduated with a Bachelors Degree in business studies (Management), said: "I am so much excited for this day; I did not expect to reach this far because of the challenges I encountered in my education.”

The Rector of KIE Prof. George Njoroge asked the graduands to put to good use the knowledge they acquired by imparting appropriate skills among their students.

Speaking at the ceremony, Venantie Mukanziza, who is visually impaired, said that that it wasn’t an easy task for her and the other graduates who live with disabilities, to complete their undergraduate programmes. "We encountered so many challenges during our courses but have managed to graduate, which proves the saying that ‘disability is not inability’”. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree in English language.

The event was KIE’s seventh graduation.

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