University of Rwanda(UR) will work with Higher Education Council (HEC) in order to establish students eligible for internship allowance. Dr Charles Murigande, Deputy Vice Chancellor in Charge Institutional Advancement at UR, made the disclosure to The New Times on Monday as he was reacting to complaints by students regarding the freezing of their academic internship allowance since 2015. “University of Rwanda, in partnership with the Ministries of Education and Finance will look into how to provide Rwf30,000 for each needy student. Only students who will be obliged to move far away from campus and need extra support will be facilitated,” he said. UR suspended the arrangement because it could not afford the high financial expenses after the internship allowances were transferred from the Ministry of Education to the university. Murigande added that during discussions with HEC, the issue of reinstating the internship allowances was mooted but was not approved because of the high costs involved. Instead, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning proposed to narrow down the number of beneficiaries by prioritising areas which badly needed practical training in the industry. “Principles and academic deans will choose the students who need facilitation the most. It is an idea which is still on the table and is expected to be approved in the next academic year 2020-2021,” he said University of Rwanda has six colleges. Over 23,000 students out of 32,000 students are given bursaries (tuition fees and monthly allowances) and these were previously entitled to internship stipend. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
