INILAK opens Rwamagana campus

The Institute of Lay Adventists of Kigali (INILAK) on Sunday opened its Rwamagana campus.Rwamagana District Mayor, Nehemie Uwimana, officiated at the ceremony that was attended by local leaders, university staff and students.He commended the leadership of the University for making tertiary education more accessible to people in rural areas by setting up a campus in the district.Assuring the University of their support, the mayor noted the institution would foster development in the district.“We have been looking forward to launching this campus…it is an achievement not only for the university, but also the district. The knowledge, infrastructure, employment, etc that inevitably come with the campus, will benefit our district immensely,” Uwimana said.INILAK was founded in 1997 by the Federation of Adventist Parents Association for the Development of Education in Rwanda (FAPADER) groups.Dr Jean Ngamije, the Rector of INILAK, said the opening of the campus will meet the need for university education, especially for residents of the districts in Eastern Province.He disclosed that plans were underway to introduce Masters Degree courses, to help people who are already employed to upgrade their skills.“We are committed to supporting the development vision of the country that aims at setting people free from poverty. Masters Degree courses will in the near future be introduced at this campus,” Dr Ngamije said.Rwamagana campus has so far registered over 500 students, pursuing various courses with more expected to join at the start of the 2014 academic year.Meanwhile, news of the campus launch was received with great relief by students who were paying a lot to pursue studies in Kigali.The students were forced to spend extra money, after the ministry of education in February halted the running of the campus due to substandard infrastructure.“I can’t believe we are going to study from Rwamagana again…We were about to give up…we couldn’t as a matter of fact afford the expenses of Kigali,” said the student’s leader Jean Baptiste Sibomana.Apart from Kigali, INILAK has another campus in Nyanza district of Southern Province.