RWANDA:Outrage as ‘varsity students’ loan’ is scrapped

Opposition says education in Rwanda is politicized

A leading opposition figure has criticized the scrapping of the university students’ bursary, saying the move was draconian and aimed at denying the poor access to education.

In a press release to The Newsline, dated October 6, 2010 Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, says the decision announced by education minister Dr. Charles Muligande was ‘very strange especially when the regime’s foreign lobbies are talking about an economic success story’.

The decision has attracted condemnation from several quarters including the affected students, who argue that in a country where over 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, it is difficult for many to meet the university education needs without assistance from government.

And for Ingabire, who is now in police custody, ‘under the current dictatorship in Rwanda’ it is impossible to resolve the high education paradox because it affects a large number of the ruling party officials who benefit from non-transparent governance and political partisanship.

“They are neither honestly committed to a strong, healthy higher education system nor to an equal access policy,” she says and adds: “given its serious challenges, the Rwandan higher education sector needs a drastic overhaul. She further laments that ‘the academic institutions and colleges are living a multiple crisis based on governmental lack of strategic vision; poor planning; language conflicts and a brutal shift of tuition languages; politicisation of the academic governance; discriminative admission policies and poor licensing standards.’

The embattled opposition leader, who was barred from participating in the last  presidential elections in August this year, says the mushrooming universities are not generating the educated workforce that Rwanda economy and society demand ‘because over 70 percent of graduates are unable to find jobs in their areas of specialization, evidence that the disconnection between the policy and the needs of the market
is huge.

“Our academic institutions need more democracy, more autonomy, more academic freedom, merit-based selection, accountability and competitiveness. Scholarships and bursaries should be granted to all students from poor families without any political consideration,” she adds, adding on that the promotion of staff, teachers and lecturers is still based on non scholastic criteria such as seniority, family, political background and connections.

Education Minister reacts

Appearing before the Parliament select committee for Education, Culture and Youth, October 13, Dr Charles Muligande said the government has been grappling with choosing between either supporting higher or primary education, and the latter was chosen. The minister  said that government the resources to pay for more children to enroll for the Nine-Year-Basic-Education program but , without giving details, insisted that the needy  students will continue getting educational support.

He further informed the committee that by December 15, there will be lists detailing the students’ eligibility for government assistance. According to government figures, the 27,000 university students consume 25% of the education budget – leaving two million attending primary and secondary education to share 75%, a factor the education minister says is unacceptable.

This is not the first time the controversial decision is taken as earlier the Education Minister announced that only those pursuing science courses would be funded; prompting university students to protest.

Author: Didas Gasana

Source: Newsline