Students at a local university, School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Gikondo, Kigali, have accused the varsity of poor administration and failure to call assembly meeting to address their grievances.
“How can the institution spend an year without holding a meeting with students ? They should do something, otherwise we are also human beings, we think and can act,” a student who requested for anonymity told IGIHE.com.
Others who we interviewed raised issue with the administration’s failure by the Ministry of Education stipulation that students be allowed to work to help finance their studies and upkeep after the government’s removal of the students’ monthly allowance of Frw 25,000, popularly known as bourse.
According to students, many of them had sought for employment since they had no alternative source to fund their tuition fees. This has however meant that class attendance levels would be affected due to clashing of working and study hours. The institution stands by its policy that if a student attendance status is below 75 percent, this would lead to an automatic year’s repetition of the affected course.
The students allege that answer sheets in the ongoing exams at the institution indicate that those who did not attain the requisite attendance ratio of 75 percent are separated from those who did. This has resulted in tension and fear that many of those who failed to satisfy the requirement risk repeating the academic year. This further implies that those in their final year would not graduate and will have to re-sit the affected course accompanied by a fee worth RWF 55.000 per course.
The SFB students also complain about the way the attendance issue is being conducted by the varsity’s administration. They suggest that roll-calls for attendance should be done daily according to the institution’s policy but this does not happen as regularly as expected.
“How can the authority in charge of roll calls hold them only two or three times in a semester and compute this into a percentage ?” one of the students asked, terming the method as unfair.
”We need to do something or else the ministry of education needs to intervene,” said another student who also sought anonymity.
The students said they had petitioned the Vice Rector in charge of Academics, Dr. Papius Musafiri Marimba, several times to discuss the controversial issues but they claim he has since turned a deaf ear.
Efforts by IGIHE.com to contact the Public Relations Manager of the institution Mr. Elias Kiyaga were fruitless as the call could not get through by press time.
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