University students are appealing to the government to revise the curriculum to allow either bilingual learning and assessments or ensuring that all teachers instruct in one language.

Currently, only one out of three lecturers in public and private universities speak and teach in fluent English, according to officials from the Higher Education Council.

In 2008, the Cabinet made a decision to promote the use of English as the medium of instruction in all state schools from primary schools to institutions of higher learning.

The decision sought to help build a competitive workforce able to compete favourably on the international market.

At the time, a large number of secondary school teachers and university lecturers were French speaking and few were bilingual.

Difficulties

Ten years later and instructors are still having difficulties teaching in English. This has affected the quality of learning.

Anne Marie Kagwesage, acting director of University of Rwanda centre for Language Enhancement, said research is being carried out to find out why teachers are instructing in both French and English.

“Mixing the language wouldn’t be a serious problem if the intention was to enable students to understand the subject matter. However, it will be an issue if lecturers are having problems because of low proficiency in English.

“We are organising regular writing retreats for lecturers and students to offer help based on their proficiency levels. We hope this will resolve the issue,” said Ms Kagwesage, adding that, “Teachers will get regular trainings.”

“Testing students in oral communication coupled with a thorough assessment and follow-up will facilitate learning,” she said.

Executive director of Higher Education Council Emanuel Muvunyi said the government is working to ensure that all teachers and students are able to improve their proficiency in English.

In an interview with Rwanda Today, Mr Muvunyi said there are many things the Ministry is doing to ensure proficiency in English at the Higher Education but emphasis is on three.

Language centre

“First, we have requested all public and private universities to put an English language centre in place. It should be fully equipped with computers, headphones, projectors and software for learning English.

“Every university is required to recruit an English specialist to be the director of the centre. The centre will be used by both students and academic staff.

“Huye Campus has already put one and we hope that by the end of the 2018-2019 academic year all University of Rwanda campuses will have them.

“Private universities have also committed to build their own with Mount Kenya University pledging to build four in each province.

“Secondly, we have set a compulsory English Module for all University students whatever course they are pursuing.

“Students who will fail the module will either retake it or repeat the year depending on internal academic rules and regulations.

Finally, we have requested all institutions of higher learning to introduce inter-university debates and quizzes to enable students to practise their English,” Mr Muvunyi said.

Jean-Pierre Uwimana a lecturer at the University of Rwanda said the language policy should be clear.

He said that if Rwanda is a bilingual country, students should not be forced to study and assessed in one language. Adding that when he lectured in Cameroon, which is also bilingual country, students could write their exams in the language of their interest.

“I don’t see the reason for teaching all subjects in English. If I can disseminate knowledge in any language, why do I need to study English?” Mr Muvunyi said.