The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has issued guidelines to Universities banning them from recruiting under-qualified lecturers. Sources from NCHE indicate that the list of guidelines to Universities requires all who were required to review their curriculum, to check whether the qualifications of the lecturers they recruit are internationally recognized. “Some people who hold Masters degrees from some countries are equivalent to Bachelor’s degrees in others, so we need to ensure that they are all internationally recognized before they are allowed to teach,” said the source on phone Thursday. Since late last year, the NCHE has been carrying out a review of higher institutions of learning in the country to ensure that they met required standards. According to NCHE boss, Prof. Pamela Abbot, some of the Universities did not meet the basic standards required for a university. She continued that some Universities had people with just Bachelors degrees employed as lecturers contrary to the minimum requirements. One has to hold a Masters degree to be allowed to teach in a University in Rwanda. Meanwhile, Kigali Institute of Management (KIM) last week launched a new university curriculum. The new curriculum will in effect change the length of time spent at the University pursuing a degree course. Dr Joseph Ntayi who headed the curriculum review panel said Tuesday that the review was aimed at meeting the key needs of all the stakeholders in the University. He also said that the new curriculum is aimed at corresponding with international standards. This, he said is aimed at producing graduates who are internationally recognized.The University also introduced a new course in marketing which deals with microfinance and human resource management. An official in the academic registrar’s office at the University, Chrissy Rulisa told Sunday Times that the university has also recruited new lecturers who hold doctorates and Masters degrees. The NCHE had given a deadline to universities who did not meet specific requirements to have done so by the end of this month.Ends
