The government has proposed far-reaching reforms in the higher education system, which, if implemented, could also mark a rise in salaries of university teaching staff.

The reforms are part of wider initiatives contained in the draft law on the functioning of institutions of higher learning.

Should the law come into force, the teaching and research staff in public universities will cease to be civil servants, therefore putting them at par with their counterparts in the East African Community (EAC).

By excluding the university teaching staff from the government workforce, academicians say, the government is moving to align the higher education system with the rest of EAC member states as required by the bloc’s protocol on higher institutions of learning.

Having university lecturers catered for under a different statute will allow them advantages such as forming an umbrella body to foster for improved welfare, research and academic freedom in the country.

Professor George Njoroge of Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) noted during an interview with Rwanda Today: “What is happening is learning from best practice in the region.

“The university is a public institution but that doesn’t mean that it is run as you would run, say, a ministry.”

Lecturers at public universities have engaged the government since 2005 over a special statute to govern the institutions, arguing that the current provisions are not in tandem with best practices and do not favour academic progression.

Reward research and education

Members of Parliament told Education Minister Dr Vincent Biruta recently that public universities faced the danger of not being able to retain teaching staff because the remuneration policy does not reward progress in research and education.

Government statistics released early this month indicate that a full professor earns Rwf1.7 million and a senior lecturer Rwf937,913, both gross. An advisor to the rector, who is more or less an administrative assistant, earns a gross package of Rwf744,135.

This, university dons say, does not reward hard work, the reason the majority of lecturers have quit teaching for jobs in multinational organisations and government projects with foreign funding.

Article 32 of the proposed law, which Education Ministry officials say is intended to correct the irregularity, says: “Teaching and research staff of a public higher institution of learning is governed by a special statute. Other staff of a public higher institution of learning is governed by the general statute for Rwanda Public Service.”

This financial year, the government increased the salaries of university teaching staff by 20 per cent, which lecturers described as “minimal but a pointer in the right direction.”

Educationists however caution that university teaching staff cannot be retained through increased salaries only but there has to be other complementarities, such as teaching facilities and academic progression.

“What the law says is not important; what is important is the spirit. Some people say the letter and the spirit are two different things; the letter can be easily changed, the spirit does not,” observed a senior university don who sought not to be named.

The law amendment also provides, for the first time in Rwanda, for the establishment of public-private partnerships in the delivery of higher education.

The amendment is part of the ongoing reforms that will also see the duration of university programmes reduced from four to three years, which private universities have demanded.

Education ministry officials present at a meeting of vice-rectors for academic affairs in Musanze last month are said not to have raised much objection to the amendment, signalling government support for the changes that are not only a requirement in the EAC higher education protocol but are also cost effective.

State sponsorship

Official statistics indicate that there were 38,997 students in public universities, a majority of whom were on state sponsorship.

An undergraduate student in the faculty of arts costs the government Rwf1 million a year in tuition fees alone while their sciences counterpart spends Rwf1.2 million of taxpayers’ money.

International standards guidelines in the assessment of quality of education take into consideration such factors as the number of outcomes or modules covered during the period of study, not just the duration of study.

The government is also merging all local public universities to form the University of Rwanda, which officials say is intended to bring good quality and relevant programmes, accelerate the development of post-graduate studies and achieve financial sustainability.

Though education officials say there are precedents to the mergers, university dons argue that Rwandan universities are too young for it and that none of them is bringing special expertise into the merger.

Moreover, educationists say the merger of nascent universities will kill competition and innovation, which are crucial in the progression of research in the country.