Politics puts academic exchanges and collaboration on hold

Collaborations in higher education between Uganda and Rwanda that have been nurtured over several years face collapse following ongoing political tensions between the two countries, with Rwandan students enrolled to study in Ugandan universities being told to 'start afresh' in institutions back home.

Last month, deteriorating diplomatic relations between Uganda and Rwanda culminated in border closures and the issuing by Rwanda of an ‘advisory’ against its citizens travelling to Uganda.

According to The Observer, Rwanda accuses Uganda of harbouring dissidents plotting against Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s government. Rwanda also accuses Uganda of torturing and imprisoning Rwandan nationals without trial, allegations that Uganda has denied.

Rwandan students enrolled in Ugandan universities have reportedly been advised to start afresh with their studies in their own country because the “curricula are different in the countries”. Faculty and researchers at universities collaborating across the border have been unable to have meetings and visits and collaborative research projects are threatened.

Visits cancelled

“We have had a cancellation of a visit from colleagues in research administration on short notice and without clear reasons,” Vincent Ssembatya, director of quality assurance at Uganda’s Makerere University, told University World News.

Officials at Ugandan institutions of higher education say prior to the standoff between the two countries they had been exchanging experiences and conducting benchmarking exercises. They hope that matters will soon be resolved.

“We treasure our collaboration with the universities in Rwanda, especially the University of Rwanda. We have countless positive results from these collaborations ranging from individual to institutional,” said Ssembatya.

According to a higher education expert in Uganda, there are relatively few Rwandan students in Uganda’s universities compared with the numbers from Kenya and Tanzania. This is because Rwanda’s education system only switched from French to English in 2008.

It was only after that switch that Rwandan students started trickling into Uganda’s universities for postgraduate studies.

However, since then, some projects have targeted students from both countries, notably that run by the Fortbildning för Journalister or FOJO (Institute for Further Education of Journalists), which operates from Sweden’s Linnaeus University. FOJO uses a regional approach in its programmes and believes audiences are defined around specific interest groups and are issue driven.

FOJO, funded by Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency , aims to build capacity and strengthen education and training at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Rwanda.

Student exchange

In January this year, the University of Rwanda signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uganda’s Makerere University to enable an exchange of students and facilitate internships for Rwandan journalism students in Ugandan media houses.

“We signed an MoU and the University of Rwanda journalism students were supposed to come and we would send them to Uganda’s newsrooms. Unfortunately, they have been caught up in this situation and now the partnership is in limbo,” Professor William Tayeebwa, a senior lecturer in the department of journalism and communication at Makerere University told University World News.

Tayeebwa said this would have been the first cohort of Rwandan students since the agreement was signed and they expected an exchange of talent across borders, sharing of experiences between peers and an enrichment of the programme. “This is a disservice to young people and higher education,” said Tayeebwa.

Anki Wood, the Fojo Project Manager for Rwanda and Kenya, told the media that FOJO and the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Rwanda had postponed activities related to the programme due to the sensitive situation between Rwanda and Uganda. She reportedly said this decision had been communicated to the University of Rwanda which had agreed to the terms.

Student view

Students from Makerere University’s department of journalism and communication told University World News that if there was an opportunity to travel to any university in Rwanda under an exchange study programme, they would be willing to do so.

“Uganda has not issued any travel restrictions on us. I can freely travel to a Rwandan university in pursuit of knowledge for my academic requirements,” said Jacob Ssali, a university student in Kampala.

But Tayeebwa said it was unlikely to work on a one-way basis.

“It is supposed to be a mutual exchange of students,” he said. “Even if Ugandans can travel to Rwanda, Rwandans cannot come to Uganda, so it is not mutual,” said Tayeebwa. “The whole point is to exchange students, knowledge and staff.”

Ssembatya said he hoped the stand-off is resolved sooner rather than later. “This region of higher education cannot afford to lose track especially because the parameters in higher education [from this region] do not read well. We are stemming from very low levels of capacity and participation [less than 8% gross enrolment ratios] coupled with hurdles outside the gates of universities – like youth unemployment and low industrial bases, agricultural productivity and value addition,” he said.

“Resources that come to the region would be better shared. We should be looking at networking libraries since we are a few kilometres from each other by road.”

Meanwhile, Professor Anastase Shyaka, the minister of local government in Rwanda, was quoted in the media as saying that none of their students had failed to find an institution in which to continue their education. He said all students who had been studying in Uganda were now successfully enrolled in Rwanda.