November 02nd, 2018:

The Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente graced the 5th Graduation Ceremony of the University of Rwanda in which 7,050 graduates were awarded their respective degrees in 2018.

In this ceremony held at Huye Stadium, the Prime Minister congratulated all the graduates, and praised especially those who were best performers. 

He also thanked the University lecturers for their role in the success of graduates as well as all those who played a role in the learning journey of the graduates. Particularly, he commended the University of Rwanda for its key role in delivering high quality education that enables the country to get competent human resource. 

It is in this regard that the Prime Minister recalled some of the key strategies the Government adopted in order to promote the quality of education in the University of Rwanda. Some of them are the following:

• Merging all 7 Higher Learning Institutions in the University of Rwanda;
• A special assessment team was put in place to assess all challenges that hinders effective fulfilment of the core mission of the University of Rwanda and propose strategies to address these challenges.

The Prime Minister gave some examples highlighting the benefits of implementing strategies for addressing challenges that the University of Rwanda was facing:

• A New Funding Model was established for the University of Rwanda;
• Improvement of Scholarship and loan scheme for students in Public University and High Learning Institutions;
• Increase of students’ monthly stipend from Rwf 25,000 to Rwf 35,000. This amount will be increased depending on the increment of the national financial resources;
• Reinforcement of the regular capacity building process for the University of Rwanda to get highly qualified lecturers;
• A plan for the effective use of the university’s buildings and premises all around the country was elaborated in order to provide to students a conducive learning environment. On this very strategy, the Premier noted:

"in this Academic Year 2018/2019 starting in November 2018, the number of students here at the University of Rwanda, Huye Campus was increased and reached more than 10,000 (10, 197) from 5,788 in the last Academic year 2017/2018. This great number of students in Huye Town, presents a great opportunity for the promotion of this town. The private sector is thus urged to get ready and receive these students by providing them with quality services.”

The Right Honourable Prime Minister concluded his remarks by thanking again the Management of the University, lecturers and staff for their considerable contribution in helping the University to fulfil its mission. He also reiterated the Government commitment to keep on supporting the University.