The Beginnings
The Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management (KIST) commemorated its third year Anniversary on November 1st, 2000, and in spite of the many constraints characteristic of new beginnings and of an ailing economy, it has every reason to celebrate its achievements to date. The Institute is pleased to share with all stakeholders, supporters, well-wishers, and the public at large, the gist of developments so far.
Having started as a five-year project (1997-2002) based on a General Report of a Feasibility Study carried out by German experts (August 1997), it seems only yesterday that the first planning for the establishment of the institute was initiated, initial funding resourced, premises donated by the Rwanda Government through the Ministry of Defence, staff recruited, first students admitted, and first classes started-all within a space of five months (June-November 1st, 1997). Once the pace was set, there was no looking back. In June 1998, seven months after opening the Institute’s doors to 209 students and 32 members of staff, the premises where the Military Academy once stood were officially handed over to the Institute. In April 1999, Government took over payment of student allowances and meals, local staff salaries, as well as staff development, and committed itself to putting up a new building block at the main campus in Kiyovu, which is now completed and has been put to use for two months now. Indeed, KIST continues to appreciate the efforts of the Government of Rwanda to reduce on some of the many constraints of the past few years.

KIST’s Mission
It is now common knowledge that mainly as a result of the 1994 events, the country has faced and continues to face a critical shortage of skilled personnel and professionals in various fields of the economy. One of the Government’s objectives in establishing an Institute of science, technology, and management back then, was to try and fill this void by attempting to produce for the country, skilled personnel in the technical, scientific, administrative, and managerial domains. This, indeed, is KIST’s mandate and main mission.

The project and its
programme orientation
Initially, UNDP employed a number of German professors to study the tertiary educational needs of Rwanda and to structure the courses for KIST appropriately. The study indicated that in the short term, the country required highly and practically oriented technicians, and, in the medium to long term, fully qualified engineers and business managers.

Emphasis on practical-oriented programmes.

KIST’s course schedule thus runs for five years. The initial funding was provided from contributions by the Governments of the Netherlands, Japan and Germany, etc. The funds were administered by GTZ. As students successfully progress through each year, they are to be awarded immediate certificates and diplomas at the end of each year for the first three years, and possibly a degree after the fourth and fifth year of study, depending on the discipline. Students are also required to fulfil an industrial attachment requirement in the third year of study for Management students, and every year from the third year for students of Technology. Due to this orientation, the course structures bear a strong resemblance to the German “Fachhochschule” system which offers intensely practical oriented education.

Academic matters
The curriculum
and Quality Assurance
The flexibility of the Institute’s programmes that are also demand-driven remains at the centre of what KIST is all about. Instead of separate programmes for a certificate, diploma or higher, there is a common foundation for each programme from which students may arrive at their desired goals by incremental credits. At each level, there are enough skills taught for the student to be useful in employment if he or she does not wish or is unable to go further. This also enables KIST to produce personnel with various skill levels required by the country.

For assurance of quality, the programmes currently in use have been prepared in close collaboration with experts from well established institutions such as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (for Technology subjects), Delft University of Dar-es-Salaam and Makerere University Business School, Nakawa (for Management).

KIST has also established linkages with relevant Institutions in the region, including Technikon Pretoria, Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo, and Uganda Industrial Research and Development Institute.

External Examiners from higher education insti-tutions in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Netherlands continue to be of assistance in moderating the courses and the examinations.

Structures, Programmes, and Awards
Having started with only three departments (Engineering, Computer Science, Management), a Language Centre comprising of French and English,

On the ICT Band-wagon.

and a Centre for Continuing Education whose programmes started in May 1998, KIST’s academic structure has expanded to include the following divisions fully opera-tional in the 2000 academic year :

• Faculty of Technology : The faculty has four departments : Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology, Computer Engineering and Information Technology, Elec-tromechanical Engineering, and Food Science & Technology. It also has 2 on-hands practice units : Workshop Training, and Entrepre-neurship Development, both of which cover most of the practical-oriented programmes at KIST.

• Faculty of Management has four departments offering four options : Accounting, Finance, Human Resource Management, and Marketing. It also runs several other programmes in the evenings and conducts seminars and workshops often on high demand from the public.
The final awards for full and part-time courses conducted in the two faculties include a one year certificate, a two-year ordinary diploma, a three-year advanced diploma, a four-year BBA and B. Com. or a four and a five year BSc degrees.

• Faculty of Science offers first year remedial courses in Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics with the intent of bringing to the same level, the quality of instruction received from diverse secondary school backgrounds, and to support programmes in Technology and Management. The programmes do not lead to any specific award, except as course grades for graduation in Technology or Management.

• School of Language Studies (SOLAS) has three departments : English, French, and African Languages. Whereas the last mentioned will only start functioning with effect from next academic year as a service to Rwandan children and young adults from the diaspora as well as to the foreign community residing in Rwanda, the first two have been operating since November 1997. For now, KIST offers four-year examinable English and French programmes alongside core courses, with five main objectives :

• To enable students to follow instruction gradually in either language.
• To provide equal access to all qualified A1 students or equivalent from different language backgrounds.
• To develop and enhance students’ critical thinking and analytical skills.
• To improve chances for KIST graduates to compete for employment or for scholarships for advanced studies locally, regionally, and internationally.
• To respond to Government’s Bilingual Policy.
While the preliminary first two years of English or French study will not lead to any award except as courses for graduation in Technology or Management, the last two years combined (third and fourth year) will lead to a Certificate in English or French Proficiency.

• Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) has two main departments, Part-time Programme and Distance Learning. The Department of Distance Learning oversees programmes organised by the African Virtual University (AVU, initiated by the World Bank), and Correspondence Courses for advanced degrees. The AVU provides internet facilities to the users who range from KIST students to outsiders. In conjunction with the different faculties and school, CCE is responsible for administering and managing the running of all part-time academic programmes. With the exception of tailor-made courses or seminars exclusively run by CCE, the same programmes for regular students are available to part-time students in day or evening classes, and they lead to similar awards of certificate, ordinary diploma, advanced diploma, and B. Com. degree.

Outreach
In addition to the academic programmes available to both full-time and part-time students, KIST is keen also to reach out and touch others with different needs which are met through its short-term courses in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and in Technology Transfer, including introduction to biogas plants, bio-latrine, sanitation improvement, efficient cook-stoves, rain-water harvesting, energy-saving stoves, and Internet Café facilities via the African Virtual University etc.

Installing Bio-latrines in Schools.

Available also are other courses to teach techniques of production, entrepreneurial development and cottage industries, oven-making and bread-baking. Aimed at skills development for self-employment and poverty alleviation typical of cottage industries, there are also available courses that teach the making of jam, candles, school chalk, etc. to the community.

AVU : Distance Education via VSAT & internet.

Two Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) donated by USAID have enabled KIST to act as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the public. This will also assist KIST to implement Government Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) recently introduced in Rwanda.

Management/Administrative matters
Decision-making
While a governing council to be appointed by Government under a statute for KIST is awaited, an Academic Board including representation from all of the Institute’s 15 departments is the final decision-making body. Reporting to the Academic Board are 20 sub-committees for Admissions, Examinations, Finance, Library, Research and Publication, Staff Appointments, Staff Development, Estates Management, Purchasing, Student Affairs, Discipline, Faculty Boards, Management Committee, Committee of Deans, all of which have been functioning since the beginning of 2000. Before then, business was conducted through several sub-committees answerable to the final decision-making organ — the Management Committee.

Conduct of Business
Following consultations in the relevant Boards and Committees, the following regulations have been passed and are in operation : Admission and Registration, Exa-minations Regulations, Student By Laws, Staff Rules, Appointment and Promotion Procedures, and Financial and Stores Regulations.

Staff and Students
- Full-time Students : From an initial enrolment of 209 in November 1997, the total student enrolment now stands over 1500.
- Part-time Students : Attendance at courses offered by the Centre for Continuing Education is of the order of 300 any evening. To date, 1740 students have completed courses from evening classes in French, English, Mana-gement, Computer Science, Information Technology, and Workshop Technologies. Their certification, however, still awaits the Institute’s legal statute.
- Staff : From the initial 32 members of staff, the number has gradually increased to 355 of them, 154 academics and 13 administration and professional staff. Academic Staff are drawn from Rwanda, India, East Africa, Europe, West Africa, and they include 26 PhDs and 44 with Masters’ degrees. Others have either a BA or BSc, or other professional qualifications as Instructors in the engineering trades.

KIST Classrooms : A view to interactive learning.

Of the 78 Rwandan Academic members of staff, only 7 have a PhD. Currently undergoing postgraduate training mainly under Government sponsorship and as part of Staff Development initiative, are some 15 KIST staff in Uganda, India, South Africa, Europe, and United States of America. Others are being trained locally at KIST either through the African Virtual University (AVU) programmes, or Correspondence Courses. An accelerated training programme should enable expatriate staff to be replaced sooner than later.

Monitoring
and Evaluation
As a partly donor-funded project, KIST is subject to monitoring and evaluation by its sponsors. The donor-funds are under the care of UNDP as KIST Trust Fund and GTZ acts as the executing agency. The accounts are run and audited by the two agencies. Periodic evaluation of work in progress for the benefit of the sponsors is also undertaken by GTZ.

The Future
• The African Development Bank (ADB) is in the process of commis-sioning a study on behalf of the Rwanda Government, and among its terms of reference is the determining of the actual needs and capacities of the job market for technicians and senior technicians. Indeed, while the study is yet to begin, the register of professionals in engineering, architecture, and surveying of all types, shows less than 100 names altogether. Profes-sionals in these fields often require middle level personnel or technicians in large numbers to support them. Promotion of the latter type of personnel is the Institute’s immediate focus. Three years now into its programmes, KIST’s main mission remains valid. In less than a year, the Institute will be graduating and sending out into the job market, its first batch of over 100 students who qualify for a high technician or Business Administration advanced diploma. KIST, however, might also have to adopt other additional roles that could emerge from the study.

• In conjunction with the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE), KIST proposes to embark on training of Technical Teachers, including its own future graduate, to introduce the country’s youth to science and technology at the earliest possible opportunity.

First Graduates expected in 2001.

• KIST also plans to participate in the defining of services offered to Economic Operators : Nationwide promotion and implementation of Government’s other programmes such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Human Resource Development, Poverty alleviation, and Bilingualism in teaching and in Business, are among the Institute’s short and long term concerns

Though the road to the future is still long and hard, including putting up adequate infrastructure, building enough laboratories, training local staff, equipping the library at least up to minimum desired standard, adequate machinery, etc, with the continued interest and support from Government, the donor community, and the public at large, even by way of criticism so long as it is constructive, KIST shall overcome. The commitment of the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management to serve the country through knowledge transfer and service to the community will remain as steadfast in future as it has in the past three years.