The Higher Education Council (HEC) has announced that government will no longer issue temporary accreditation to new universities seeking to begin operations in Rwanda. The decision was announced by Rose Mukankomeje, the Director-General of HEC during an exclusive interview with The New Times, shedding light on the new higher education institutions that were approved by the cabinet recently. The two faith-based universities whose accreditation was approved in the cabinet meeting held on Monday, December 14, are the East African Christian College and New Life Ministry’s African College of Theology. “When you issue temporary accreditation and allow the university to operate, after two, three or four years, that is when you find them shutting down and putting their students at risk again”, Mukankomeje told The New Times. According to her, this should allay the fears among students and parents who had lost trust in Rwandan private universities. “There should be no fear of closure or suspension again because most of those shutdown universities were operating on temporary accreditation”, she added. She explained that permanent accreditation gives hope because for institutions to secure it, they have to go through rigorous regulatory measures such that closure or shutdown in that case is rare. The development comes after the closure of several private universities due to administrative challenges and financial and management constraints that compromised the quality of education. Just this year, three private universities have closed; INATEK and the Christian University of Rwanda which were closed by the Ministry of Education, while KIM University closed down indefinitely over financial constraints. The Higher Education Council then imposed a series of tough requirements for all higher learning institutions and other investors in the education sector. Among the rigorous regulations that universities must meet before they are given accreditation includes having their own premises, and having enough capital to run the school for a given period of time, without having to entirely depend on loans or tuition fees.
