Varsities urged to treat research as a priority

KIGALI - The Minister of Education, Dr. Charles Murigande, yesterday, called upon universities to conduct research on the skills required on the job market. Murigande was officiating at the seventh graduation ceremony of the Kigali Independent University (ULK). He said that universities should not only produce for today, but also look into what kind of jobs will be needed in future so as to begin training candidates earlier. “You have to prepare a workforce of Rwanda’s tomorrow,” said the minister, adding that there is need for higher institutions of learning to update the courses they offer and to check their relevance from time to time. Murigande also called upon universities to put emphasis on the quality of education. “We need quality education which will give graduates the ability to think for themselves and come up with solutions for the problems that affect our country.Quality of education can be attained if we have qualified teachers at all levels of our education system,” he said, stressing the need for schools to have qualified and motivated teachers. The Minister said that there is need to have enough lecturers at the university. He gave the example of ULK, whose lecturer to student ratio is about 1:50 and said that the gap is still big. The Rector of ULK, Dr. Ezechiel Sekibibi, said that this year, 1,896 students are graduating, 53 percent female. The students graduated from the faculties of Economic Sciences and Management, Law and Social sciences. Sekibibi said that the university has a mandate to impart knowledge to students, but not forgetting to train them to love their country as well as being honest in their work. In his speech, the founder of ULK, Prof. Rwigamba Balinda, urged the graduates to join the workforce with a mindset of job creation. ULK is the largest private university in the country with a population of 11,339 students at the Kigali and Gisenyi campuses. Ends

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Varsities urged to treat research as a priority