University of Rwanda in fresh round of restructuring

University of Rwanda is in the process of restructuring to improve the quality of education, reduce expenses and create a friendly learning environment for students. The restructuring process is expected to start in July and last through August, according to the university administration. The restructuring process will merge the two campuses of the College of Education; Remera and Rukara, and will be relocated from its Kigali headquarters in Remera to Rukara in Eastern Province. The College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), based in Huye, will shift to Gikondo campus and merge with the College of Business and Economics. The College of Medicine and Health Sciences and School of Public Health will be relocated to Remera campus. However, two years of medical school will be spent in Huye where students will spend time in hospitals. Economics, Forestry, and ICT will go to Huye campus. College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences will go to Busogo campus, while Nyarugenge campus will remain exclusively for science and technology. Rubirizi campus will be reserved for students’ ‘village centre’ in line with tackling the shortage of students’ hostels. Dr Charles Murigande, deputy vice-chancellor for institutional advancement, said the restructuring aims to improve the quality of education and ensuring efficient management of the university’s resources. He added that the process will also impact global ranking of University of Rwanda with a target of breaking into the top 20 on the continent in the next five years. The restructuring will help the university to have schools and colleges with the same programmes under one roof. “It happens that we have colleges and schools that run in various places yet they have similar programmes, which increases the cost of operations and the time lecturers spend moving from college to college,” he said. Murigande said before merging seven public institutions into University of Rwanda a few years ago, the former district varsities worked as competitors and recruiting a lecturer from a public institution was costly. Under the restructuring, he expects a reduction in costs involved in the movement of lecturers and help them get enough time for research and increase their publications. Rubirizi to be students’ village centre Murigande said Rubirizi campus is reserved for a ‘village centre’ to tackle the problem of the shortage of students’ hostels that the university has been facing. “Most of our students do not have decent accommodation, forcing them to go to hostels in campus surroundings,” he said. The university will also mobilise investors to build halls of residence or hostels, shops and an internet café, among other entrepreneurial projects. It will have sports facilities and theaters so that it becomes a very lively campus. “We will also make effective transport facilities to ease movement,” he said. “The Government is also committed to initiate a higher learning institution in Rusizi. The students at the campus who study Economics will be having online education in the framework of smart classrooms,” said Murigande. Most of our lecturers will not need to travel to Rusizi to teach, instead they will use video conference and online materials. Moreover, there will be a teaching assistant to guide the students.” In February, University of Rwanda relocated the School of Journalism and Communication and that of Law from Nyarugenge to the Gikondo campus. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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University of Rwanda in fresh round of restructuring