EAC dons meet over academic quality

Regional university dons will focus on improvement of the quality of education during the third Annual Inter-university Council for East Africa (IUCEA) meeting, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, its Executive Committee Chairman, has said.The professor said that the meeting, hosted by Rwanda, will help to improve the quality of education in the country.Prof. Lwakamba, who is also the Rector of the National University of Rwanda (NUR), said this yesterday during a press conference organised by IUCEA and the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC).“We are very privileged as Rwanda to host the third annual meeting for IUCEA because it will help us as Rwandans in the education sector to come up with new strategies and mechanisms on how best we can improve the quality of education in line with the East African Community regional integration,” Prof. Lwakamba stated.He said that the meeting would also enable participants to discuss issues regarding the qualification framework among EAC member states which he said would help regional universities to easily initiate an exchange programme involving students and lecturers.Speaking to The New Times, Prof. Geoffrey Rugege, the Executive Director of the National Council for Higher Education, noted that the meeting would help his institution and other stakeholders in the Rwandan education system to share and learn new experiences and knowledge concerning the harmonisation of rules and regulations among universities in the region.The Executive Secretary of IUCEA, Prof. Mayunga H.H. Nkunya, disclosed that the meeting would be held under the theme “The role of universities in fostering knowledge-driven economies in East Africa through university/industry partnerships”.He added that the participants would also address issues concerning the development of research in universities in the region and the challenges they continue to face in their efforts to promote research activities in their institutions.“IUCEA has set a target for the harmonisation of higher education systems in the region so as to make East Africa a common higher education area by 2015,” Prof. Mayunga indicated. He further noted that IUCEA is currently carrying out a study which will put in place a regional fees structure for all students in EAC member states.Prof. Mayunga told The New Times that his institution is currently working on a credit system which will help harmonise education systems among EAC member states.According to Prof. Mayunga, some of the factors still hampering the regional integration process especially in the education sector include a belief among people in the EAC member states and limited resources saying that there is a need to carry out regular training programmes on the importance of integration.On the promotion of research in universities in the region since 2002, Prof Mayunga said that IUCEA has been administering a regional research programme named Lake Victoria Research Initiative through which IUCEA provides funding constituted with a regional outlook to research teams in institutions in the partner states.Mayunga added that his institution is also enhancing the capacity of universities in the East Africa to utilise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to support higher education systems in the region.He underscored the need to strengthen ICT systems in universities as one of the immediate interventions to expand higher education delivery in the region, adding that IUCEA has been putting efforts to develop the human resource capacity in e-learning systems.