Rwandan students studying in Hungary have been urged to use the knowledge and skills they acquire abroad to contribute to the country’s development when they return home.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to Hungary, Margueritte Françoise Nyagahura, made the call on Saturday, October 17, when she received 14 government-sponsored students who began their studies in September under the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship programme.
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"What does our country expect of us? What is our responsibility as Rwandans who have come abroad in search of knowledge?” she asked.
Nyagahura said Rwanda needs highly skilled professionals in fields such as aviation, nuclear energy and emerging technologies to support its development ambitions.
"This year, for example, we have students pursuing piloting, nuclear energy and other fields that are aligned with our country’s development priorities. All these areas require highly skilled Rwandan professionals,” she said.
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"The responsibility is to remind yourselves every day that you have been given a valuable opportunity to study here. When you complete your studies, Rwanda will be waiting for you to put your knowledge and skills to work for the country.”
The 14 students are part of the sixth cohort under the scholarship programme established by Rwanda and Hungary in 2021. They include two bachelor’s students, seven master’s students and five PhD candidates.
Ange Pamela Umwali, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Professional Pilot at the University of Nyíregyháza, hopes to return with the expertise needed to contribute to Rwanda’s aviation industry.
"I hope to return to Rwanda with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to meaningfully contribute to our aviation industry,” she said.
Umwali worked as cabin crew at RwandAir for three years before moving to Hungary. She also hopes to encourage more young women to pursue careers in aviation.
"I genuinely want to show young girls that becoming a pilot is an achievable dream. By gaining the necessary knowledge and skills, I hope to help increase the representation of women in aviation, particularly in the cockpit,” she said.
Gilbert Rukundo, a PhD student at John von Neumann University, also hopes to apply his studies to Rwanda’s aviation sector.
With more than nine years of experience at RwandAir, he wants to use the knowledge gained in Hungary to improve airline operations and support Rwanda’s ambition to become a regional aviation hub.
"I want to turn the knowledge I gain in Hungary into practical solutions that strengthen RwandAir, improve operational efficiency and support Rwanda’s ambition to become a regional aviation hub,” he said.
The Higher Education Council reports that Rwanda spends about Rwf19 billion on students studying abroad. Priority fields include health, nuclear energy, aviation, aerospace, agriculture and emerging technologies.