Akilah Institute for Women plans will open a new campus in Bugesera district and another in the Burundian capital Bujumbura.Elizabeth Dearborn-Hughes, the Co-founder & CEO of the women institute said the Bugesera campus would be opened in September with 120 students. It will offer new programmes, including diplomas in entrepreneurship, and information systems.“We have decided to expand our academic focus in order to align with the priorities of the government- and the opportunities in the labour market. We want to empower women in and outside Rwanda through offering them with a unique model of market-relevant education for success in their careers and leadership roles,” she told The New Times. According to Dearborn, the Bujumbura campus will be the first and only higher education institute dedicated exclusively to women in Burundi.Classes are slated to begin on August 26, 2013 for a three-year Business Diploma. Akilah Institute offers a two-year diploma in leadership and hospitality management. It was launched in 2010 in Kigali to meet the needs of both marginalised rural women and the thriving private sector.The women institute also acts as a bridge connecting their graduates directly to the workforce. Last year, all their maiden graduates were assured of jobs in the hospitality industry with 15 of the graduates taking on Marriott employment positions in Dubai and Doha (Middle East) for a period of 12 months.The students who were taken as interns in the Middle East were expected to come back as supervisors in the Kigali Marriott Hotel.
