The number of courses available in all colleges of the University of Rwanda (UR) was cut by 33% in a move to ensure a strong foundation for all undergraduate students. Streamlining the programmes is part of larger reforms that were approved by the cabinet in February 2024.
The implementation has started already, and will be ongoing.
The process began after a thorough assessment of programmes across the university. “We had to sit and re-evaluate all the programmes and ended up reducing close to 300 programmes and consolidated them into 92 programmes,” Dr Didas Kayihura Muganga, the acting vice-chancellor, told Press.
“We wanted to reassess whether the content was sufficient to build a strong foundation for the undergraduate students. We wanted to see if there was duplication that hindered this,” he added.
The UR’s reform initiative represents a strategic shift towards a more focused and impactful educational experience for its students. By prioritising a strong foundation and optimising resource allocation, the UR is poised to empower graduates for success in their chosen fields, Muganga said.
“Previously, the proliferation of programmes meant a weaker foundation for students and inefficient resource allocation for the university,” Muganga pointed out. “The reforms address both these issues.
“Students are now going to get a strong foundation and then get wider chances for recruitment if they choose to, or a better chance to specialise when they go into higher education,” he said, emphasising that the university cut down expenses initially spent on each of these programmes.
Consolidating campuses, not colleges
Muganga said that the reforms do not involve merging the UR’s colleges that were formed 11 years ago. The UR was formed in 2013 after the former National University of Rwanda and six public higher learning institutions were merged to improve the quality of higher education.
“We are consolidating campuses within colleges,” he explained. “For instance, the College of Business and Economics previously operated across four campuses. Faculty were constantly on the move, hindering student consultations and creating logistical challenges.”
As part of the reform, the College of Business and Economics and the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) will be centralised in Huye district in Southern Province. The College of Science and Technology will mainly be consolidated at the Nyarugenge campus in the city of Kigali.
The College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine could be split into two as students in veterinary medicine and animal husbandry would be hosted at the recently established College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry in Eastern Province’s Nyagatare district.
Those in ordinary agriculture will all be consolidated in Busogo College in Northern Province, the one for business and economic finances at Huye, and that for CASS also at Huye.
Staff optimisation and growth
The university anticipates no job losses due to the reforms. “We already have a significant staff shortage,” Muganga said. “The previous programme structure allowed faculty to be stretched thin across multiple campuses offering similar programmes. Consolidation will allow for better workload distribution, and improved student support as the faculty will be much more focused.”
Experts laud consolidation
Experts in human resources have hailed the UR’s move to cut down the number of courses and consolidate the programmes, saying that it would help students acquire the needed skills set to compete in the labour market.
“It is a positive move. Reforms were needed more than a decade after the merger of public higher learning institutions to form the UR,” said Clement Ndungutse, a human resource expert based in Kigali.
“If well implemented, the consolidation of courses which were similar or closely related will see graduates equipped with a strong foundation and enable them to compete in the labour market,” he said, stressing that some graduates initially lack a deep understanding of wider subjects.
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