It goes without saying that higher education must be staffed by talented individuals who have also received training at the highest level.

For the purely academic disciplines, the doctorate level or PhD attests to training in research for advancing the subject beyond its previously known concept.

The Master’s degree with a substantial research component is the next best, where the doctorate level lacks in particular high institutions of learning. Some institutions would still appoint the non-doctorate to only a temporary position and as Assistant Lecturer until a PhD level lecturer shows up.

The criteria for academic staff appointment might be stated to refer to the highest qualifications in the field. These differ from one discipline to another, but they ought not to differ from institution to institution.

For instance, it ought not to matter that an appointment is being made to a polytechnic rather than university. In higher education, even for the temporary staff a qualification that is higher than what is awarded for the programme being taught might still be insisted.

Staff without the minimum of post graduate qualification or its equivalent may be engaged only as tutorial assistants, demonstrators and instructors.

For advancing through the hierarchy of academic ranks, some systems recognize establishment constraints, providing for only so many in any grade. In other systems, multiple professorships are recognized. In the latter, there is no restriction to the advancement so long as the criterion is met. It is important to understand that even within the same country; each institution determines its own criteria.

As the government of Rwanda continues to improve on its education sector, more experienced education experts such as professors and others at doctorate level are required to boost the social and economic progress of the nation in order to meet the vision 2020.

It is important to understand however, that all these might be assigned to actual monetary values for proper comparison with incomes available to others. Staff recruitment and retention however, remains a problem as reported from many institutions.

It can also be said that every domain has its own professional level of approach. In medicine and typically in the clinical disciplines, a systematic and practical approach of teaching students should be precise and specific.

In some business schools where they do not even run PhD programmes, an MBA with experience from a senior position in a major industry would normally be on the short list, and might indeed be preferred.

Therefore there is need to maintain the maximum qualifications possible in higher learning institutions.

Ends