Rwanda | Nyaruguru district: Students praise good service delivery
The soon-to-be university students from Nyaruguru district, Southern Rwanda, praise good, quick service delivery from grassroot leaders as students fill in forms to help them secure living allowance loans from Rwanda Education Board (REB).
The living allowances, worth Rwf 25,000 per month for each qualified student, are meant for needy students who have outstandingly passed the high school-leaving examinations and therefore stand a chance to study in Rwanda’s public universities and higher learning institutes.
The money is part of a free, automatic government scholarship scheme for excelling students. But only, after a meticulous inquiry, needy students qualify for the living allowance fees to help them cope with the academic life – paying meals, rents, and paying for copies of course notes, among others.
“I just downloaded the form from REB’s website on Sunday, then went through local leaders to get it signed and today [Tuesday], the rest was signed here [at Nyaruguru district] in a matter of five minutesâ€, said 23-year-old Emmanuel Nsabimana, from Muganza sector, who will study sciences at the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), come September.
François-Xavier Nsanzimana, 22, also hails from Muganza sector. Just in September, Nsanzimana will be studying General Nursing at Kibungo School of Nursing, located in Rwanda’s Eastern Province. He is confident that he will qualify for the living allowance loan fees.
“The time of injustice is overâ€, the chap tells me smilingly, referring to Rwanda’s past regimes. “Even when REB people come to field to check the veracity of information I provided through the form, they will find out that I am eligible for the living allowance loanâ€, Nsanzimana added.
Both Nsanzimana and Nsabimana’s parents are ranked in the category of “the poor†in the country’s ubudehe, a national scheme that puts Rwandans into categories following their wealth levels – a way of, among others, indentifying the most vulnerable groups in order to give them special social, economic assistance.
According to Angélique Nireberaho, deputy mayor in charge of social affairs in Nyaruguru district, good service delivery is fostered by accurate database records of the district population’s social status – making it easy to trace different wealth categories.
Should Nsanzimana and Nsabimana secure living allowance loans, they would be compelled – following REB’s policy – to pay them back after at the end of their courses to help other needy students as well.
