Universities to scrap irrelevant courses

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) is conducting a survey to establish the significance of courses offered by institutions of higher learning on national development. The council is charged with ensuring education quality and coordination. The development comes after surveys showed that higher institutions offer irrelevant courses to students which impacts negatively on development and affects the labour market. In an interview with The New Times, the council’s Executive Secretary, Geoffrey Rugege said: “We are currently carrying a study to know what kind of manpower our country needs. And this study is likely to be out before this month ends.” He added that the findings will be presented to the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to draw a policy which will guide all public institutions on the courses to be offered. Citing management courses, Rugege, urged private institutions not to offer courses for the sake of attracting numbers. According to the research by Human Resources and Institutional Capacity Development Agency (HIDA), there is still a gap of 70 percent of required skills in the labour market in the country. The Rector of the National University of Rwanda, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, attributed the problem to lack of linkage between higher institutions of learning and the labour market. “There is need for linkage between higher education institutions and the employers to enable institutions come up with relevant studies or courses demanded in the labour market,” said Lwakabamba. “As NUR, we are soon involving employers on the board of governors and this will also help in establishing relevant studies needed in the labour market,” he added. According to the Private Sector Federation (PSF), the market lacks scientists. PSF’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Molly Rwigamba, said that PSF plans to partner with MINEDUC and higher institutions of learning so as to boost the private sector through enriching students with required skills. Ends