Universities in the East Africa region should consider having exchange programmes in place that would enable students from the different EAC countries to further understand the region with the aim of further deepening integration.
This is according to Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Kenya Martin Ngoga who noted that having students moving to study in neighbouring countries would enable them to develop a deeper understanding of the region and develop friendships that can later be tapped into to enhance EAC integration.
He spoke Thursday when he visited Mount Kenya University’s (MKU) main campus in Thika, where he met with the university’s management led by the institution chairman and founder Prof. Simon Gicharu and Vice Chancellor Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi. Areas of discussion included expanding access to education in the region and the different roles and state and private sector actors can play.
Ngoga noted that despite MKU having a fully-fledged university in Rwanda – Mount Kigali University – it should also encourage Rwandese students to pursue studies in Kenya while at the same time ensuring that a number of its Kenyan students study in Rwanda.
“It is a good idea to have students from Rwanda coming into Kenya and I hope you can have an arrangement that enables them to do so. This is not because we cannot accommodate all of them in Rwanda but because we want as East Africans to have more young people moving across borders so that they can form lifelong partnerships which EAC can tap into in the coming years to deepen regional integration,” he said.
“You should have a policy to have some Kenyan students study in Rwanda and other areas in East Africa where you have campuses.”
He noted that by understanding the region early, the young people would become advocates for enhanced integration in EAC.
The region has made major progress in integrating, including people being able to move across borders with minimum requirements and instances such as the only requirement being a national identification card.
The region however is aiming for more, including a monetary union.
“We have a vision of becoming a borderless region and we hope that when it’s your turn to be in the leadership of this region, we should have a situation where you can be anywhere in East Africa and you meet people and feel at home,” said Ngoga.
He also appreciated the role that MKU had played in Rwanda’s higher education sector.
“Rwanda is grateful to MKU because of the partnership we have had with MKU that started many years back and it has grown from a college to a fully fledged university. MKU came to Rwanda when many people had lost confidence in Rwanda. We have a special relationship with the university,” he said.
“MKU was one of those investors who believed in us when most did not believe in us.”
Prof Deogratius Jaganyi, the Vice Chancellor of MKU, noted that MKU would continue committing resources in Rwanda.
It is set to launch a new 48-room hotel this December, which is expected to bolster its hospitality training.
“One of the reasons we embarked on the construction of the hotel is because we want to expand our hospitality training and also give our students hands-on training. When we took our students to some of the other hotels, they did not get the opportunity to serve the guests and would only assist in the background,” he said.
He added that once the hotel is launched, it would offer ‘work study’ opportunities that would help students earn a little money, especially the needy students who are pursuing hospitality, to support themselves, pay their fees and cater for other needs.
The hotel is in addition to other facilities that the university has put up in Rwanda including a radio station and a health facility.
“We are in Kigali to stay and are looking at Mount Kigali University as our next biggest campus,” said Prof Jaganyi.
Students from Rwanda studying at MKU present during the visit by Ngoga said studying in other countries within EAC would help broaden their views on different issues, which would be helpful when they go back to Rwanda.
“Having a partnership with MKU is not in vain. It is reliable and can open up ways for Rwandese students,” said one of the students who spoke during the Ambassador’s visit.
When students come to study here and go back to Rwanda, they are exposed to different world views and also become open-minded, which is good for them but also for the people in Rwanda.
