Editor, RE: “We hope for more success in 2016 – education players” (The New Times, January 6). As education sector players have very rightly indicated, the New Year will herald more success for this leading and crucial sector of the country’s economy. For the uninitiated, the world class campus set up by Mahatma Gandhi University in Kabuga in the capital Kigali which is eagerly waiting for the necessary approval from the Ministry of Education before commencing classes, will boost the education sector considerably. This Indian varsity, with their $10-million project in Kabuga, will offer courses of international standards at their Kigali campus. To achieve this objective, the Chief Executive Officer of their California campus was actually transferred to Kigali and is presently the Director of Rwanda Campus. Further, American and European faculty will also be based at Kabuga, giving this centre for higher learning a truly international appeal. In the article it was highlighted that the Government of Rwanda has laid out ambitious plans to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy built on a skilled workforce that is able to compete both regionally and internationally. For sure, education is key to this transformation process. The country, with its high levels of safety and security, a crucial concern for international students, will definitely attract students from overseas who will come and benefit from the transformation process that is taking place in the country. We wish this Indian investor and all other players in the education sector a fulfilling year, which will enable this great land of a thousand hills and a million smiles to become an education hub for the EAC region. Clarence Fernandes
