The Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), is currently analyzing appeals
by students who claimed their removal from full government sponsorship
was unfair.
This follows last year’s decision to scrap the
monthly stipend paid to government –sponsored students, leaving it to a
few whose parents or guardians were found to be living in abject
poverty.
The government sponsors university students through the Students’ Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR).
According
to the Minister of Education, Dr Charles Murigande, after the academic
year begun, they discovered that there are some students who never
registered because they had no money, subsequently, dropping out of
school.
He said that initial analysis indicates that at least
five percent of students failed to register since the beginning of the
current academic year or registered but missed classes as they looked
for jobs.
“It is not an ideal condition for a student. Some have
been living at their colleagues’ mercy, sharing food, lodging and
sanitary utensils. We would not wish this to happen, but times are
changing and our budget is small,” Murigande said in an exclusive
interview.
The minister admitted that errors could have been
made in the review process which relied mostly on ‘Ubudehe’ policy and
student status evaluation forms and said that the ministry and SFAR
were considering clear-cut measures to assist the needy students.
Murigande
explained that he recently met students Guild leaders from all public
universities on the matter and urged them to produce lists of most
needy students.
He added that a team from SFAR and MINEDUC will go to all universities to gather data for the counter-review process.
He called upon all students to provide accurate information to speed up the procedure.
This
comes amid reports from the public universities suggesting that
students who were erroneously left out live in pathetic conditions.
Murigande called on the affected students to remain patient as authorities continue to seek solutions.
New Times
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