Varsity suspension: Joint assessment underway

The Higher Education Council has engaged professional bodies in the latest assessment of the requirements asked of the universities to be allowed to run suspended programmes. The Higher Education Council suspended some universities programmes and private varsities in mid March this year over inadequate staff and lack of enough teaching facilities following recommendation by external auditors. According to Emmanuel Muvunyi, the new Council executive director, a fresh assessment was directed after the affected universities reported to have fulfilled the requirements. The four suspended universities include Rusizi International University (RIU), Singhad Technical Education Society-Rwanda (STES) in Kicukiro, Mahatma Ghandi University (MHU) in Gasabo District, and Nile Source Polytechnic of Applied Arts (NSPA) in Huye District. Six other universities whose undergraduate courses were suspended include University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB), Open University of Tanzania, in Kigali, University of Gitwe, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Institut Catholique de Kabgayi and Instut d’Enseignement Superieur de Ruhengeri (INES-Ruhengeri). In an interview with The New Times last Friday, Muvunyi cited the Rwanda Medical and Dental Council, National Council for Nurses and Midwives, the Rwanda Allied Health Professional Council, and Rwanda Institute of Engineers among the professional bodies engaged in the exercise. This is in addition to external auditors, he said. A standard tool with specific benchmarks used to gauge the performance of higher education institutions against international standards was given to the universities last Friday to fill and submit it to the Council for fresh consideration, according to Muvunyi. The Council, along with professional bodies will have seven working days to visit universities after which it would be decided whether the assessed universities can be granted permission to reopen, he said. He said that theevent that an institution is not allowed to reopen then the students will be advised to go to other accredited institutions where they will seek admission for themselves, according to Muvunyi. He explained that after looking at the filled information the verification team will visit the university for field assessment. For example, if a particular university claimed they have done a hundred per cent and we realise they have done 30 or 40 per cent, I think if they will not have attained what is fully required of them in six months, they will be subject for permanent closure, explained Muvunyi. Julie Kimonyo, the National Council for Nurses and Midwives registrar said the joint assessment is inline with the spirit of partnership between the Council and professional bodies which also want universities to offer quality education. “These are principles of our partnership, HEC can’t do it alone without engaging concerned bodies, there are standards and norms which are to be followed and the universities have to ensure they have implemented that before we assess them, that is what we will be looking at,” she added. Father Dr Fabien Hagenimana, the Ruhengeri Institute of Higher Education-(INES) Rector welcomed the fresh assessment, saying they hope they will get the green light to offer the suspended courses again. He said, while all the parties lost following the suspension, once all goes well and they reopen, they will move fast to catch up with lectures. “Once everything is in order, no one will be complaining, but if all does not go well, students will have right to blame us that we lied to them. But, we can’t claim to have materials which we do not have, we are all concerned and we want things to be in order, the students want to resume their studies. We also want to reopen and the ministry wants to see us offering quality education,” he added. According to Dr Abdallah Baguma, Director of Academic Quality at the Higher Education Council, once the universities reopen their programmes, they will have to catch up for the lost time without compromising course units. CLICK HERE for the full Interview with Dr Muvunyi, the Executive Director of the Higher Education Council

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Varsity suspension: Joint assessment underway