Unaccredited institutions to be sorted soon– Murigande

The Minister of Education, Dr. Charles Murigande, has said that the issue of private universities that are not yet accredited would be addressed soon. Murigande said this recently, while appearing before the senate to explain the state of the education sector, following a report by a senatorial committee on Social Affairs, which revealed some of the challenges in the sector. Responding to the issue of private institutions of higher learning operating on provisional licences, Murigande said that the liberalization of the education sector, led to the mushrooming of institutions which have been operating without adequate facilities as stipulated in the regulations that govern them. “Government opened space for these private institutions to start work, but unfortunately it did it when the regulatory framework had not been put in place which led to some miscalculations and by the time we realized it, it had gone out of hand,” he explained. Because of this, some institutions reached the extent of teaching students up to the final year and yet these institutions did not meet stipulated guidelines. In 2006, the Higher Education Council (HEC), a regulatory body was put in place to ensure quality and oversee planning of all institutions of higher learning. Since its inception, HEC has been auditing these institutions to evaluate whether they meet new obligations. Murigande told the lawmakers that the HEC was doing the last Audit to be completed soon and forwarded to Cabinet for discussion. He promised that no institution will reach the extent of graduating its students without knowing its fate of accreditation. Unaccredited institutions of Higher learning in the country include; Institut Polytechnique de Byumba (IPB), Kigali Institute of Management (KIM), Institut d’Enseignement Suprieur de Ruhengeri (INES), Universte d’Agriculture de Technologie et d’Education de Kibungo (UNATEK), Université Catholique de Kabgayi (UCK), Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC) and the Ruli Nursing College which has already been closed down. Ends

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Unaccredited institutions to be sorted soon– Murigande