Ministry, Unilak row may end soon

A licensing panel from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has met the Universite Laique Advantiste de Kigali (Unilak) management in a bid to resolve the varsity’s accreditation standoff.NCHE Executive Director, Prof. Pamela Abbott led the licensing panel for the meeting held earlier this week, according to sources at Unilak. Operating under the Ministry of Education, NCHE is mandated to ensure quality and oversee the planning of all tertiary institutions in the country.Earlier, an official from NCHE had said that all universities that don’t comply with all the formalities that require an institution of higher learning to operate will be closed.Unilak’s board of governors, senators and support staff were interviewed to assess their competence, according to sources.“The licensing panel has interviewed many leaders here. NCHE will pronounce Unilak’s fate later this year,” an official from NCHE said on Tuesday.Unilak Rector, Dr Jean Ngamije, confirmed the development when contacted yesterday but declined to divulge more details.The government insists that Unilak and other six universities cannot be allowed to award degrees because they still lack capacity to provide the required quality education.Umatara Polytechnic, Kigali Institute of Management (KIM) and Institute Polytechnigue de Byumba are also lined up for vetting. Others are Institute d’Agriculture Technology and Education, University d’Catholique de Kabgayi and Institute Superieur de Ruhengeri.All degrees, diplomas and certificates awarded by tertiary institutions that are not accredited are considered null and void.Some of the requirements for a university to be accredited include enough operating financial budget to guarantee against any closure after students have paid fees, recruiting competent and permanent lecturers.Ends