As he officially inaugurated the meeting, the Prime Minister insisted on the importance of this meeting as a platform for local and international experts to dialogue on how the quality of standards and competitiveness of higher education should be enhanced and maintained to respond to the needs of the community in terms of social and economic development.
He explained that this year’s theme carries an underlying message that the East African region needs to transform Higher education and adapt to a new era of technological advancement and appreciated the fact that this theme is linked to the Global 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).
In order for East African universities to deliver to the optimum quality of digital and ICT expectations, Premier Ngirente said, institutions must implement academic programs that allow them to develop students who can think and reinvent themselves within the changing world they will graduate into.
He stressed the need to ensure that pupils who complete their primary schools are well equipped with relevant basic numeracy skills while those who complete their secondary schools have a minimum proficiency in Mathematics regardless their ambitions to prepare them for any field of study in Higher learning.
To ensure quality education, the Prime Minister called upon the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) to elaborate clear accreditation requirements that public and private universities must fulfill before they start to operate.
“No university should be accredited on the basis of fulfilling merely the minimum requirements as it can undermine the quality of our education” he noted.
He also applauded the Inter-University Council for East Africa for facilitating the establishment of the East African Centre for Mathematical Research that has among other objectives to promote and coordinate research and Postgraduate Training in Pure and Applied Mathematics in the East African Region.
Dr. Christophe Bazivamo, EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors lauded IUCEA efforts in facilitating research.
He explained that EAC member states concerted efforts in building citizens’ capacity in which Universities and Higher Institutions play a key role.
The Vice Chairperson of IUCEA, Prof Joy Kwesiga said that the World Higher Learning Institutions and Universities continue to embrace technology as the World moves towards digital revolution.
Leave a Reply