The University of Rwanda (UR) has introduced a new online students’ application system that will see the students fulfill all the needed requirements in one place.
The University of Rwanda (UR) has introduced a new online students’ application system that will see the students fulfill all the needed requirements in one place.
The system was launched, yesterday, at UR’s College of Business and Economics, and immediately went into operation. It is expected to work in April and May as students apply for various courses in the six UR colleges and 10 campuses.
Speaking at the launch, Prof Phil Cotton, the vice chancellor of the university, said the system will be "one-stop shop” for everything students need to complete the admission process.
Prof Nelson Ijumba, the deputy vice chancellor for academic affairs and research, explained that all applications will be done within one system.
He said the online system will fulfill all Rwanda Education Board requirements and help students submit loan applications to the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) which now disburses the loans.
"This year is different. We looked at the cumbersomeness of moving from one office to the other and decided to come up with a simpler, more efficient system. We wanted a system that caters for the requirements of the three institutions,” he said.
The system will also provide other information about the university to the students; for example, rules and regulations and the different programmes offered at the different campuses of UR.
Florence Kaneza, the university registrar, said the system will minimise costs in form of transport and time.
"It will cut down on journeys and costs. The students have been spending a lot on transport during the admission process. And then after two months, they would come back to process the loan application,” she said.
Kaneza added that the university administration will also benefit since they will no longer have to wait for a whole month to get feedback from REB about students who would be on scholarship.
Joel Ntivuguruzwa, a prospective student, who had come to apply for admission, said, "To me, this is an advantage since I always have access to the internet. It will make the process easier for us.”
The event was also used by UR to launch 11 various campus information centres that will provide information to prospective students, parents and guardians and to facilitate them to do online application.
The centres are located in the various college campuses in the different provinces of the country. They will also help applicants without access to the internet to apply online.
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