He has lectured thousands of students and chaired various departments in different universities across Australia and South Africa.
The Tanzanian-born researcher has authored more than 130 research articles, and his experience was a decisive factor in his selection as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kigali.
IGIHE has caught up with Prof. Rugimbana to talk about his areas of priorities; plans to deliver on efficiency and help UoK become a hub for intellectuals in Rwanda and the region.
{{Excerpts:}}
{{How did you welcome your recent appointment as the new Vice Chancellor of UoK?}}
I was very privileged to have been chosen for this appointment. It is a huge honour. Rwanda is a visionary country that has grown enormously for the past 27 years. I was very keen to see for myself what was happening because I felt that what was happening here could be mirrored in other countries.
I am pretty sure that there are other countries that consider Rwanda as the Singapore of Africa. This is a result of fast-tracking development initiatives.
I am very privileged to have had this opportunity to come to Rwanda. I have not yet seen the entire country, but what I have seen in Rwanda is a testimony.
{{What is your impression about the university?}}
To be honest, I am impressed by its performance. The university has been operating for about 7 years. From that time until today, if you look at statistics in terms of admissions, graduations, it has been performing well. In December last year, the university released more than 2000 graduates despite issues of COVID-19 pandemic and introducing new technologies and the cost of running a private entity. It is doing an amazing job.
A small university that is growing so fast has huge potential. It is a major attraction for me.
So, I am pleased to see what has been achieved so far including infrastructure and most importantly in terms of the Board of Promoters’ vision and what they expect from individuals like us. They are very approachable. When you have that kind of communication, you are more likely to be productive. The impression of the University is that they are punching all above their weight when you look at the basics standard measures with which we measure quality.
I would wish that such kind of progress continues and grows.
{{What are your aspirations as the new Vice Chancellor?}}
I am working with the Board of Promoters. They have very carefully thought about its vision, futuristic position, they are looking to grow and diversifying. That is going to be the major occupation and I find it very useful to be here at this point in time basically for one reason.
When you talk of growth, it is not necessarily about size, it is also about shape.
Talking about shape. I mostly refer to the notion of what kind of university? It is a big university but what makes it unique?
{{What available packages make UoK different from others? }}
I am happy that we have begun these discussions. We are gauging our strength to make improvements and forge the way forward. We are also seeking how to review courses and adjust them to labour market demands.
What I find very interesting in this university is that the Board of Promoters are very careful about positioning the University of Kigali as a forward- looking higher education provider.
It is also reflected through our motto ‘Labour for the Future’. It implies that we are trying to produce graduates who are going to be relevant in the future.
That future is about the fourth industrial revolution. However, the challenge for us becomes future work in the corporate world. We must also talk about future pedagogy. My excitement is to be part of a project sticking to ‘how do we mould what you already have so that it has a futuristic orientation?” What we eventually produce in terms of graduates is very relevant, very applicable to what Rwanda needs.
{{Rwanda is expending much effort to become an education hub. How is UoK positioned to take advantage of it?}}
The initiative is really about producing graduates who are relevant to the society. I sense that some of the approaches we must take may involve reviewing the way we provide academic services.
For example, we might need more relationship with the industries or other stakeholders, so that the inputs become part of the curriculum. We can also make sure that what our students learn is not just theoretical aspects but also depict the reality.
Helping graduates come out of institutions and be relevant helps the society to become self-reliant. I am optimistic to make a contribution based on my long history and experience in different universities.
{{How is UoK working with other universities to advance quality education?}}
The University of Kigali is really doing well in terms of collaboration with other universities. We have already signed MoUs that we believe are going to assist in capacity-building so that we can bring in professors and other experts to reinforce where we are not capacitated enough to assist our students.
{{How do you follow-up on graduates?}}
We have had conversations with the Board of Promoters around a number of strategic issues. One of them involves creating an alumni section whereby we monitor graduates in particular positions who could assist us in creating links and assist us perhaps in recruitment. They may also come back and become employees.
The alumni issue is a very important one. I am told that we have many successful individual graduates in Rwanda who studied at this university. I am sure that by approaching them and asking them for ideas will put us in a vantage position of knowing how we can collaborate to assist current students.
{{Where is UoK positioned in terms of research?}}
The University of Kigali is right now in the process of growing the side of research. My own views are that we can build capacity in research through a number of strategies.
We have signed MoUs with various universities; run workshops with those universities so that our students can be the very best.
The promoters have looked very hard at the organogram and are looking for a dedicated Directorate of Research which will involve the entire range of research workshops. I believe this will attract more students to come to us. Perhaps, we will move much more away from there from taught programs to independent learning.
We are also going to introduce what we call ‘Research Communities of Practice.’ The advantage of it is that people who are pursuing Masters are placed into groups, workshop is given to them by an expert, and then they give them the opportunity to talk to each other and justify what they are doing.
One of the things I have learnt from the years is that you sometimes learn more from colleagues.
These kinds of discussions tend to become very useful and productive because you might find that someone else has the solution where you find difficulties.
If we create these ‘Communities of Practice’ where people meet regularly and talk, discuss, argue and debate, you are introducing the culture of questioning, argumentation and independent thinking. That is very critical and is one of these ideas I am proposing to introduce.
{{What kind of support do you extend to students affected by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic? }}
There are students who have been receiving scholarship even before COVID-19. The program is continuous. The fact that we have got so many students registering and paying suggests that people coming here want to pay for it. But it does not dismiss the idea of what we can do to assist people who are going through difficulties.
Every university has got its plans to work around that and our Promoters are very busy with the subject going forward, particularly as we look at our growth strategy.
It is something being discussed very seriously and I am certain that we are going to find creative ways of assisting people, so that their education is not impaired.
{{How has your journey in the education sector been like?}}
I actually started in the business sector and I was very fortunate that after finishing my first degree at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, I studied education and graduated as a teacher. This happened a long time ago. I am one of the people who are extremely fortunate because I was offered a fully-paid scholarship by the Australian Government after graduation in 1982. The exposure was remarkable. It is one of the reasons why I always say that I couldn’t get a better gift because giving someone a fish is different from teaching someone to fish.
I returned with a Master’s degree feeling more confident and interested in the academic sector. After my Masters, I returned to my native land in Tanzania where I worked for some time and went back to Australia.
I joined the university as a tutor. I started in 1989 but the opportunity to work within an academic institution came in 1990. They were very helpful and encouraged me to pursue studies to the next level. Australia encourages people not to do all degrees at one university. So, I did my Masters and PhD at different universities. I was privileged that it was a full- paid scholarship. After three years, I graduated with a PhD and got a full-time appointment and became part of the University of New Castle.
In 2004, I moved to another university in Australia. Since I obtained my PhD, I have been working in teams with other colleagues and we were able to create conferences, we were publishing widely with people who helped and mentored us.
By the time I went to Griffith University, I was able to do the same for those who came after me. I stayed at Griffith University until 2008. It had always been my wish to be back in Africa. It wasn’t easy to get into some universities but I joined a University in South Africa.
{{Education is a vocation you continue until the day you can’t walk. I love being a teacher and building capacity. }}
Seeing people growing and meeting their aspirations is always my pleasure. I feel proud to have assisted different students who also became lecturers and continue to pass on knowledge to others. It is a great level of satisfaction.
{{What message do you have for the youth with ambitions to achieve great things? }}
There will be times when the river flows slowly; there will be times when the water falls, when it is rapid and very fast. We need to know that different challenges exist and navigate them before getting out there. That will prepare you to achieve what you want to do.
Striving to do great things always should be all human beings’ ambition but not everyone gets the right advice or right opportunities.
Anyone who wants to do well in their field, the opportunities may have never been there. They should not be put off by one or two hurdles. But hurdles are steps which mature and strengthen us. Keep focus on your ambition because it is that focus that keeps you growing. Where you have questions, ask them. Get mentorship, learn and seize other available opportunities.
What I have picked up when looking at the African environment is that we are not very good at reading. I am not referring to WhatsApp center. Just take a simple text book or even a novel and read from start to the end. If you develop that kind of habit early, you will be surprised. My learning and understanding of English came from reading novels. I learnt many things like sentence structure and more.
Through regular reading of books, you suddenly find yourself with grammar that you didn’t have before and express yourself in a way that you haven’t done before.
I believe that developing langue proficiencies gives you extra comprehension, understanding and confidence, so that you will be able to interpret what is given to you when you go for a particular course. The culture of reading is of critical importance.
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