The Uganda Export Promotion Board has announced an upcoming education exhibition for Uganda’s private and public universities in Kigali, aimed at attracting international students.The three-day exhibition due to start tomorrow at Kigali Serena Hotel was organised in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Ugandan Universities, Uganda National Council of Higher Education and the Ministry of Education in Uganda.According to a statement from the Commonwealth Secretariat and Uganda Export Promotion Board, sent to The New Times, the exhibition dubbed “Study in Uganda Universities Exhibition” is aimed at showcasing services of 12 universities from Uganda which include Kabale University, Bugema University, Islamic University in Uganda, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Uganda Marty’s University Nkozi.Others are Bishop Stuart University, Uganda Christian University, Kyambogo University, St. Lawrence University, Mountains of the Moon University, Kampala University and Gulu University.Uganda Ministers of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Amelia Kyambadde, and her counterpart in Education and Sports, Jessica Alupo, will lead the delegation to enhance the export of university education in East and Southern Africa region.According to the statement, the event will be graced by Rwanda’s Minister of Education, Dr Vincent Biruta.“The Education sector in Uganda has registered high growth since liberalization in the late 1990’s. The sector recorded an 89% growth in the number of licensed universities with a remarkable yield of USD 36m in 2010 from export of education, demonstrating the strong response of the private sector to market opportunities in tertiary education,” said the statement.Uganda boasts of 29 universities dominated by local students with approximately 16,000 foreigners according to statistics from the National Council of Higher Education 2010. The statement added that the marketing of Uganda’s higher education Services is being implemented to improve and enhance University services to international students and to strengthen inter-university collaboration among EAC member states.“This platform serves as an opportunity for Rwanda and Uganda to tap into mutually accessible and diverse knowledge pools, in addition to cementing our socio cultural relations. As Uganda prepares to celebrate 50 years of independence, it can also boast of the progresses made in development of its education sector,” Speaking to The New Times yesterday, Minister Biruta said Rwanda was yet to organize such an exhibition, but that the government has completed marketing the Kigali campus of Carnegie Melon University across East African countries.“There are foreign students who are pursing their respective studies at various private universities in Rwanda. But I also encourage our private universities to put in place more strategies which will enable increase the number of students from EAC member states and beyond to further strengthen our education sector and boost the economy,” Dr Biruta said.
