President Paul Kagame yesterday met with a delegation from Oklahoma Christian University (OCU) who are in the country to attend the graduation of students who completed their online programme in Masters of Business Administration. 

John deSteiguer, the president of OCU, is heading the eight-man delegation. He told journalists that this being the first graduation of Rwandan online MBA students from OCU, it serves as a landmark for future academic cooperation between Rwanda and the university. 

"Our first ever online MBA graduation is tomorrow [today]. We have 38 Rwandans graduating with their masters in business administration. So this is a historic time for the university,” deSteiguer said after meeting the President. 

"The entire state of Oklahoma (US) loves the relationship and cooperation with Rwanda. We have additional young people from Rwanda who will be going to Oklahoma University to study and they are among our best students,” he added. 

The university has about 60 Rwandan students studying various disciplines in Oklahoma, according to deSteiguer.

Bridging education needs

The graduation will take place at Christ Church in Gacuriro, Kigali, from 10am.

"We anticipate that our MBA programme could grow further here in Rwanda. We admitted our first intake in August 2012 but it has been growing tremendously,” deSteiguer added. 

Dr Vincent Biruta, the minister for education, said OCU is one of the universities where government offers Rwandan students scholarships to help bridge the education gap in the country.

"Together with the team from Oklahoma, we will select students who the government will sponsor for studies at OCU. It is one of the American universities with a good understanding with Rwanda and we select sponsorships for students based on Rwanda’s education needs,” Dr Biruta said. 

About 200 students have graduated through sponsorships in various universities abroad. 

There is a total of 39 students on presidential scholarship from Rwanda in various departments at OCU; 31 undergraduates and eight post graduates. 

OCU has been admitting 15 Rwandan students annually for both undergraduate and post-graduate programmes focusing on science subjects.