NUR finalists decry delays in reimbursement of research funds

Some fourth year students of the National University of Rwanda (NUR) have complained that they have not yet received money for their dissertation, barely a month to their graduation day. The dissertation money, Rwf100,000 to each finalist, who is under government sponsorship, to cover costs like printing, internet and transport which is incurred by the students during the field research. Research is a pre-requisite for all graduating students. “We handed in our research papers but they don’t want to refund the money,” said Jean Claude Munyaneza of the faculty of Management and Economics at NUR. Rosine Mukaje, another affected student added: “We are entitled to this money, but imagine we have been expecting it up to today, yet other universities go it.” The university’s Vice Rector for Academics, Desire Ndushabandi, in a telephone interview with The New Times, assured students that the issue would be settled soon as the money was in the hands of the school, ready to be transferred to the students’ accounts as soon as possible. “The delays originated from the exercise of re-assessing the lists of supposed beneficiaries in their respective departments and correcting errors, like the names of the beneficiaries. Delays from SFAR (former student financing body) are also partly to blame though they might have possibly faced similar problems.” According to a mini-survey its only NUR that experienced the delays, as students from most of other public institutions confirmed receiving their refunds. Meanwhile, Fred Mugisha who is in charge of the students’ financing at the Rwanda Examination Board (REB) clarified to The New Times that disbursing dissertation money ended with the 2011 academic year. This change is aimed at encouraging parents to participate more to covering their children’s study expenses, and ultimately supplement Board’s finances. emma.munyaneza@newtimes.co.rw