The University of Rwanda (UR) looks to greater engagement of its stakeholders including chief executive officers (CEOs) of various entities to offer skills and knowledge needed for its graduates to remain relevant in an ever-changing world, officials have said.

They made the observation on March 28, during a UR’s CEOs and heads of organisations dinner meeting under its stakeholders’ interface, at Kigali Convention Centre, under the theme "Enhancing Stakeholders’ Engagement towards the University We Want.”

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UR’s Acting Vice Chancellor Assoc. Prof Didas Kayihura Muganga, said that UR is the only comprehensive university that offers a variety of disciplines, pointing out that it cannot work in isolation, but rather consults employers – both public and private entities – during the design of the programmes it offers.

He added that it is important to also engage them for the review of the performance of the graduates from those programmes for better outcomes.

"Knowledge changes every day. These are employers, they are the ones who experience changes. When we work closely with them, they tell us what we should improve in terms of the knowledge we offer, which makes our programmes more relevant, and responsive to the labour market needs,” he said.

"The centre of the country’s development is in the university [UR]. Everyone who wants the country to develop should partner with us so that we advance knowledge, for the country to achieve the desired knowledge-based economy,” he said, indicating that the university trains many people who are distributed countrywide to serve in all sectors.

The Minister of Education, Gaspard Twagirayezu, said that of the 10,000 students who graduated in the country last year [2023], 8,000 were from the University of Rwanda, and 2,000 from other universities [private].

"Even if it may seem like a big number, that is still a very low number compared with the numbers we want to get to,” he said, encouraging both leaders in the private and public sectors to support UR to do more for the country’s well-being.

Mireille Karera, Executive Chairwoman at Kora Coaching and Business Academy, an implementing partner of UR- Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, said that UR’s journey over the last 10 years is laudable, though more needs to be done.

"There is definitely still a need for more innovative ways for us to reach the university we want,” she said, suggesting that, for instance, for a business student to get competitive and relevant skills in the field, they should be taught by a person who owns a [successful] business.

Responding to ever-changing market dynamics

Referring to unpredictable dynamics in the job market, Minister Twagirayezu said, "Since we have no idea what may come, if we train someone to be adaptable, to me, I think that’s the greatest gift that we can give to young people.”

The Private Sector Federation (PSF) CEO Stephen Ruzibiza said that there is a need to have an entity that looks at where society is going and can forecast what products are needed and how to develop them promptly.

Ruzibiza indicated that in an open economy – with free entry, and free exit – it is important to think ahead to come up with competitive products that consumers need, in a world where people are moving from manual ways of doing things to adopting technology including robots.

Increase in graduates, academic staff with PhDs at UR

Since its establishment in 2013, following the merger of former public higher learning institutions, UR has undergone various reforms intended to create a strong structure, as well as improve quality teaching, according to information from the university.

UR comprises six colleges at the moment, namely College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (CAVM), College of Business and Economics (CBE), College of Education (CE), College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS), and College of Science and Technology (CST).

It has 10 teaching campuses with more than 31,213 students, of which 89.81 per cent are undergraduates – with the remaining percentage share consisting of postgraduates.

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Since the establishment of UR, the university made remarkable achievements, and aspires to attain even more, Kayihura said.

For instance, he indicated, that over a decade ago, UR produced 72,408 graduates, and the number of its academic staff with PhD qualifications has increased by 86 per cent, while the number of professors rose 90 per cent – in line with enhancing the capacity of its teaching personnel.

"Now, we are close to 500 PhDs,” he said.

During the period 1963-1993 (30 years), before the merger, the university [the then National University of Rwanda] graduated 2,997 students, which increased to 50,490 during the period 1995-2013 (18 years), while UR graduated 72,408 students just in a 10-year-period – from 2014 to 2024, Kayihura indicated.