Rwanda ’s Ministry of Education says it has permanently shut down a number two universities including the Christian University of Rwanda and Indangaburezi College of Education (ICE) for alleged administrative errors and poor quality of education.
The official closure of these church universities in Rwanda was announced on July 5, 2020, with officials in Kigali citing poor administration and failure to learn from their mistakes.
Dr. Valentine Uwamariya, Rwanda Minister of Education announced on the state television that owners of the two affected universities have since been arrested by Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB).
“These universities had provisional licenses but failed to fulfill the requirements for them to be accredited. They have been closed and some of the owners arrested by Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB),” Dr. Uwamariya indicated in a statement read on state television.
“They are expected to help students who were studying in their universities for them to get admissions from other institutions when schools resume by providing their academic performance results,” Uwamariya said.
Indangaburezi College of Education teaches academic courses including early childhood education and other departments including department of education in economics and geography, department of education in English and French, department of education in English and Kinyarwanda, department of education in English and Swahili, and department of education in computer and geography.
Early this week, Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) confirmed the arrest of the owner of the Christian University of Rwanda, former Prime Minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi for allegedly committing financial crimes as President of the Board of Trustees of the University.
Besides Habumuremyi, Prof. Egide Karuranga, Vice-chancellor of University of Kibungo (UNIK) was also arrested over misuse of university funds and nepotism after the closure of the university last week.
They follow the University of Kibungo (UNIK) formerly Institute of Agriculture, Technology, and Education of Kibungo (INATEK) which was closed over administrative challenges that also compromised the quality of education.
All the affected universities are owned by the Catholic Church in Rwanda.
A Kigali based university with Christian values and another university based in Ruhango district, Southern Province are likely to have their licenses withdrawn, KT Press reports quoting unnamed sources from the country’s Ministry of Education.
