Major reforms are improving academics’ working conditions

Rwanda’s universities, especially the University of Rwanda (UR), are undergoing major changes aimed at modernising how they operate, how they are managed, and how they are funded, writes Fred Mwasa for KT Press.

Under the new reforms, academic staff at public universities and polytechnics in Rwanda will begin to enjoy a range of professional and personal benefits designed to improve their careers and working conditions. The introduction of well-defined career paths – with transparent promotion criteria – means that lecturers, researchers and instructors will now have clearer opportunities for advancement, recognition and growth. For the first time, senior academics will be eligible for sabbatical leave, allowing them to take time off to pursue research or contribute to public service without losing their positions or pay.

At the centre of these efforts is a new Prime Ministerial Order that introduces a new way of managing academic staff and builds on a reform journey that began more than a decade ago. Together with a new financing model that gives UR more freedom to raise its own money, these changes are meant to make Rwanda’s higher education system more professional, more competitive globally, and less dependent on government funding.
Full report on the KT Press site