Rwanda could be an academic hub for EAC

Editor, RE: “Ministry approves University of Kigali’s Musanze campus” (The New Times, October 7) Kudos to the Ministry of Education for approving this new campus! Please allow me to share with your readers that the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) has also set up a world class campus in Kabuga, in addition to the existing campus which is presently operational in the heart of Kigali City. MGU’s new campus has already been inspected by the Higher Education Council and I am confident that they too will get the necessary approvals shortly and can then commence their educational programmes, since the current academic term is in progress. It is relevant to note that MGU awarded, during ‘Rwanda Calling 2015’, ten full scholarships for graduate level study to scholars selected by the Imbuto Foundation which was celebrating their tenth anniversary. Such initiatives do go a long way by inculcating “Corporate Social Responsibility” awareness in educational institutions. Students, along with their parents, will always look at safety and security as prime factors while deciding on the country to pursue higher education. With a recent Gallup International Report showed that Rwanda is the fourth safest county in the world, after only Singapore, Hong Kong and Norway, this great nation could well position itself as an ideal location for students from other countries to come for higher education. It is here that private universities of international reputation like Carneige Mellon, among others, could well contribute towards making Rwanda an education hub in the East African Community. Education tourism has contributed immensely to the economies of many countries; why not also here in this beautiful land of a thousand hills and a million smiles? Clarence Fernandes, Mumbai, India

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Rwanda could be an academic hub for EAC