Kigali:On 20th June 2019, the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Dr. Ngirente Edouard officially opened the 10th Annual Meeting of the the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA). This two-day meeting takes place in Park Inn Hotel, Kigali from 20-21st June 2019.

The Prime Minister started his remarks by insisting 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.

The Premier highlighted that the theme of this Annual Meeting which is “Effectively leading Universities in the context of ICT and digitization of Higher education in East Africa” carries an underlying message that the East African region needs to transform Higher education and adapt to a new era of technological advancement. He also appreciated the fact that this theme is linked to the Global 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The Prime Minister also noted that in order for East African universities to deliver to the optimum quality of digital and ICT expectations, 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.

The Premier reiterated that there is a 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.

The Prime Minister also called upon the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) to elaborate clear accreditation requirements that public and private universities must fulfil 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 further noted.

The Premier concluded his remarks by applauding 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. He also thanked the Inter-University Council for East Africa, for successfully organizing this 10th Annual meeting.