The two departments were closed by the Ministry of Education in January this year following the school’s failure to meet education standards instituted by Higher Education Council (HEC).
After the suspension, students and officials from HEC held a meeting during which was agreed that affected students will be transferred to other schools.
It was agreed that students in Medicine and Surgery would continue studies at the University of Rwanda (UR) while Medical Laboratory Technology would continue studies at UR, INES Ruhengeri, Kibogora Polytechnic and Catholic University of Rwanda.
A twitter user claiming to be a parent whose child studied at Gitwe wrote a message in which he tagged President Kagame requesting for intervention.
“Our children halted studies following the suspension of Medicine courses at Gitwe University. Concerned officials promised them transfer to the University of Rwanda but it is not yet done. We solicit your help, father of the nation so that our children can return to school,” he said.
The University of Rwanda has via twitter revealed that it is trying by all means to find places and didactic materials.
“UR is doing everything possible to receive Gitwe students based on their field of studies and performance to establish in which year everyone will be integrated and courses to be revised,” mentioned the tweet.
“We are also working with partners to identify requirements to teach students like lecturers, laboratories and hospitals in which they will conduct internships among others,” adds the tweet.
The Ministry of Education has also unveiled that it is following up the matter in partnership with concerned parties.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rwanda (UR) in charge of institutional advancement, Dr Charles Murigande said some students in year 4 and 5 didn’t study all necessary modules that they will be obliged to attend courses in previous years or have the case handled as an exception.
“To be promoted to the next level in the medical department at UR, it is required to have passed every module with marks not below 60% while at Gitwe a student is required to have scored not below 50%. This is another problem we have to solve,” he said noting that it needs much vigilance to confirm admission for these students.
“We would have admitted them, had they been students in history or literature. They are however studying medicine. We have to be assured that they will have adequate skills to attend to patients when they graduate,” said Murigande.
The representative of students in medical department at Gitwe Amiel Nzayisenga has told IGIHE that they submitted all required documents to the University of Rwanda and asked to wait.
Nzayisenga said they were promised to attend missed modules to cover the gap before 2019/2020 academic year begins.
He however said that their colleagues in laboratory technology resumed studies one week after suspension. According to sources from the University of Rwanda, admission of students from Gitwe will double the existing number of students in medicine.
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