How do we improve the quality of our graduates?

Editor, RE: “Teachers’ Platform: Are universities giving us a raw deal?” (The New Times, February 17). I am a student at School of Architecture and Built Environments at University of Rwanda. As student in a sea of many weak areas to be tackled by the stakeholders in our education industry, there are three important key areas that would likely trigger a higher standard of the graduates’ quality. Staffing: A university without both good administrative and teaching staff is like a cattle herded by kids. Currently one of the challenges at my school is lack of enough competent staff members, it happens repeatedly starting semesters with many courses without lectures though. This does not only affect lessons to be taught but also students’ mindset. For example, my since second year, I never attend the first day of semester, I always have to check if we have got lecturers yet. Besides, the number of students in relation to number of teachers is doubtful as well. A class of 200 students being taught by a single a teacher not only allows many students to dodge but also pushes the teacher to keep everything simpler. I was a teacher in high school before starting university, the more students I was given, the fewer the quizzes I would give. Which lowers of course the quality control. Materials and infrastructure: This has been said a hundred times, I won’t talk much about it. It includes laboratories, studios, workshops and soon. It is a really a long list. A simple example: at the School of Architecture which is now seven years old, we do neither have an architectural studio nor a computer lab. We study from the questionable building (the building in former KIST that was talked about recently all over then news that it may fall). It used to be a computer lab, and we are still using the same tables. The lab is equipped with inefficient lights and tiny spaces, which makes it harder to draw in that studio. Harmonize studies with students’ living conditions: In my opinion, Rwandan students are very resilient. When you visit them where they live, see what they eat, studying materials they can afford, and so on and so forth, you realise how tough their life to support their studies is. Speaking from experience, many of them eat once a day, which worries me very much. So what are my suggestions? In few words, the Government should brood trainers for higher education institutions; don’t expect that relying on foreigners is enough—they do not likely understand the Rwandan context which creates misunderstandings, particularly when it comes administrative staff such as deans of faculties and heads of departments... Provide effective infrastructures and materials. Fortunately there are good signs from the government and private institutions’ efforts. Invest in students’well-being. The BRD, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and REB, is a good sign. However, revise the amount of monthly allowance in relation to at least the basic students’ needs and provide it at the right time not the “usual known way”. Patrick Kayeye

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How do we improve the quality of our graduates?