Future of 6000 varsity students in balance

GASABO - The academic future of about 6000 students in unaccredited private universities is uncertain. A mini-survey carried out by The New Times shows that about six thousand students in Rwanda are still studying in the universities. This essentially means that the students are likely not to get their academic transcripts at the end of their courses. The Minister of Education Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa said that all the unaccredited universities in the country had been given deadlines to meet all the requirements by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The four unaccredited universities include Kigali Institute of Management (KIM) with a population of 850 students, Universite Catholoque de Kabgayi UCK with 1400 students, Institute Supérieure de Byumba (ISB) with 550 students and Université d’Agriculture de Techinologie et de l’Education du Kibungo (UNATEK) with a population of 3200 students. “Any university which has not fulfilled all the requirements is not allowed to award degrees until it is accredited,” said Gahakwa during a news conference at the ministry of education last week. “The Adventist University (UNILAK) together with Umutara Polytechnique University are now among the recognised universities in the country. They are now allowed to award degrees like any other, so these other remaining universities should also follow suit and meet the requirements,” said the minister. Joseph Habumuremyi, a second year student at KIM expressed his fears about the status of the institute. “We thought our school was going to be accredited together with Unilak and others, but it was not the case. It is a big problem and people concerned should do what is required so that we can also study with confidence,” he told The New Times. Unilak was towards the end of last year given the green light by the Ministry of Education to award degrees, ending a decade-long uncertainty that prevailed in the school. Ends