{Students from University of Rwanda (UR)-Huye Campus have come out to express their concerns about the issue of bursaries which they say should, without equivocation, be clearly addressed during the ongoing 13th national dialogue that has commenced today. }
The students’ concerns are raised amidst lamentations from beneficiaries of the bursary scheme that the funds are released late, in pittance of a mere Rwf 25,000, insufficient to allow them buy academic basics and survival.
Talking to IGIHE, students have requested that the national dialogue (Umushyikirano) should not close without coming up with a sustainable solution of the bursary challenges.
“Based on current market prices, the bursary of Rwf 25,000 doesn’t satisfy our school related needs. The national dialogue in which our leaders meet should address the matter,” said Vedaste Ntawurwiyahurira, a 4th year student of accountancy at UR.
Jean Bosco Karekezi, another UR student of civil engineering has noted that the national dialogue can deliberate on the amount to be given to students as bursary as well as determining the time-frame during which the bursary should be delivered to students without delay.
“We want the Umushyikirano meeting to discuss the increase of bursary to at least Rwf 45,000 to match with the basic cost of living. Besides, timeliness should be an important integer so we can use the money for the purposes it’s meant to serve,” he said.
Early December 2015, students voiced their concerns about bursary challenges to members of parliament, calling for immediate action to pave way for building strong pillars of strong tertiary education. Students revealed that they study in poor conditions since the living allowance is delivered late and in total mismatch with the prevalent market prices.
They requested parliamentarians to react against the issue. Twahirwa one of students who asked parliamentarians to bring on board these challenges of bursary challenges in national dialogue said.
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