HIGHER EDUCATION IN RWANDA

The Government of Rwanda (GoR) has prioritised the building of a robust and functional higher education sector. It is believed that a relevant, flexible and accessible higher education should be able to deliver, develop and produce highly enterprising graduates prepared and dedicated to building a more just and sustainable society locally, nationally, and globally.

Higher education is expected to play a critical role in enabling Rwanda to realize her ambitions of attaining a sustainable development and economic growth as well as building knowledge-based economy. It plays a key role in the generation of new knowledge through research and strengthening of skills through teaching programs. Higher education in Rwanda is provided by both public and private higher learning institutions that are located across the country. It is also categorized into research based universities and technical polytechnics of which those categorized as universities are 31 and 9 are polytechnics. The Higher Education Council (HEC) for the case of universities and WDA for the case of polytechnics were established as regulatory agencies responsible for the maintenance of quality assurance in the provision of higher education to ensure that higher learning institutions in Rwanda produce citizens capable of playing their part in the Rwandan economy and development. 

ENROLLMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Before 1994 genocide against Tutsi, higher education was dominated by one institution, the National University of Rwanda/Université  Nationale du Rwanda (NUR/UNR). While the system graduated merely 2,000 students in three decades between (1963, when the National University of Rwanda was founded and 1994), there are now 40 HEIs in the country with a total enrollment of 86,140 students (2019). Private higher education institutions dominate the enrollment with 50,421 of which public higher education institutions enrollment are 35,719. Together, private institutions enrolled 57 percent of all tertiary students in 2019. The overall number of students has doubled within the last decade while the tertiary GER jumped from 3 percent in 2005 to around 7.40 percent in 2019 of which enrollments are predominantly in undergraduate programs. As indicated by the pie chart below, the tertiary institutions in Rwanda is highly dominated by the private tertiary institutions with a total of 37 out of 40 tertiary institutions in Rwanda.

The number of public HEIs is tiny despite enrolling 43 percent of students. There are only three public HEIs: the University of Rwanda (UR); the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD), Rwanda’s dedicated postgraduate institution for legal education; and Rwanda Polytechnic (RP). However, it should be noted that both UR and RP are large, multi-campus institutions. UR is the country’s largest and preeminent multi-faculty research university with 14 campuses and 26,345 students. It was created in 2013 as a merger of six (6) public HEIs in Rwanda, including the National University of Rwanda. University of Rwandan admission is highly competitive, especially in fields such as medicine, engineering, law, and pharmacy. Table below indicates the enrollment of students in both public and private universities (excluding polytechnics) plus foreign students studying in Rwanda in 2019.

Development of Higher Education sector

The development of higher education sector is stretched on the enrollment of students for both public and private since 2009 to 2019.

 A ten years’ trajectory indicates that, over the past ten years, enrolment in higher education institutions has continued to grow strongly though there is a slight decline in the two years particularly for public enrollment. By 2019, there were 739 students per 100,000 inhabitants of Rwanda, up from 602 in 2010. Figure below highlights the growth of tertiary education enrollment from 2009 to 2019.

GENDER PARITY AND PARTICIPATION OF FEMALE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The proportion of female enrollment in higher education institution is still low despite some efforts in mobilizing them. Since 2016, male students continue to dominate enrolment in tertiary institutions particularly for public institutions. Female students have accounts for around 42% of all enrolment consistently for the last five years. In contrast to male enrolment patterns, public universities remain the majority choice. Figure below indicates the higher education female students from2016 to 2018.

Generally, while there is an excellent track record in terms of gender parity in the education sector, some work remains to be done in TVET in some trades that require both physical and mental energy. It is important to note that much of this enrolment is in private institutions, may reflect family choice to keep female students close to home, or the fact that many girls take time out for marriage, and are not therefore eligible for scholarships, for which it is necessary to enroll in public higher education directly after finishing senior six (S.6).