Editor, RE: “UR graduation rules should be reviewed” (The New Times, August 10). Having worked with a few engineers from the University of Rwanda (UR), I’ll say this: for students to repeat a whole academic year because they failed one subject is a little extreme and a waste of resources. But I absolutely agree that students should not be allowed to graduate without, at the very least, a working understanding of the English language, which means they unequivocally have to pass English before they are sent into the world of work. I have found that our new graduate’s English is often non-existent which affects confidence levels in the workplace and leaves employers wondering how they made it through the four years. This is not acceptable in today’s Rwanda; a university that is graduating half-baked engineers is not going to get us any closer to our dream of a knowledge-based economy. Concerned Rwandan
