BY IGNATIUS SSUUNA KIGALI - CABINET is to resolve the stand-off between the Ministry of Education and Universite Laique Advantiste de Kigali (Unilak) next month. Close to 1,000 Unilak students are said to be trapped in a long-standing wrangle between the private university and the ministry, which has refused to accredit the institution over the past 10 years. The stand-off, which was exclusively reported by The New Times, stems from a letter written last September by the Minister of Education Dr Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya to Deputy Commissioner of Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) Mary Baine. The minister’s list of nine universities approved by her ministry sparked off panic in other universities that were left out. When contacted on Tuesday, Mujawamariya confirmed the development, saying the cabinet would scrutinize Unilak issues in September. “Yes, that is the procedure and they should stay calm. When leaders come back from recess, they will look into the Unilak matter,” Mujawamariya said. Many students completed their degree training in Law and Management but cannot get transcripts because Unilak is not allowed to give degrees. The ministry insists that Unilak cannot be allowed to award degrees because it still lacks capacity to provide quality education as required by the government. Unilak maintains that the university has complied with all the formalities that require an institution of higher learning to operate. The accredited list has National University of Rwanda (NUR), Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Kigali Health Institute (KHI), the Universite Libre de Kigali (ULK) and School of Finance and Banking (SFB). Others are Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAE), l’Université Adventiste d’Afrique Centrale (UAAC) and Institute Supérieur Pédagogique de Gitwe (ISPG). Government says quality service provision shall always prevail over any other business concerns. Ends
