Varsities to adopt modular system of teaching

KIGALI - The Higher Education Council (HEC) has put guidelines in place for all higher learning institutions in changing from the traditional mode of teaching to the more internationally credible modular system of teaching. The revelation was made yesterday by the council’s Executive Secretary, Geoffrey Rugege, during a training session for faculty members and heads of departments of universities. Speaking to The New Times, Rugege said that HEC is working round the clock to see that the system is understood and implemented in all the institutions. He explained that there was much to gain in terms of quality assurance for graduates if universities adopt the modular system as opposed to the traditional way of teaching. “We have been using the teacher centred type of teaching where the lecturer provides the student with everything hence giving the students no chance to do their own research. But this new system will allow participatory learning for the students,” said Rugege. He further explained that the modular system allows the component of several teachers delivering various sections of the same module which helps in quality assurance due to the more detailed nature of the subjects. There have been complaints in the past about the quality of graduands from the universities, where employers have said that they lack skills to match the jobs on the market. This issue also came up during President Kagame’s visit to the National University of Rwanda (UNR) last year, where he called for quality in higher institutions of learning. Ends