Nyarugenge Campus is located at Kiyovu in the back of Serena Hotel. This campus is seen to host the College of Science and Technology, formally known as the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (K.I.S.T). The latter was the first technology-focused higher institution of learning created by the Rwandan Government.
The College of Science and Technology being an important milestone in the development of
Rwanda, necessitates that we dive into the history of its constitution. This college was
established in November 1997, in light of a partnership between the Ministry of Education,
U.N.D.P Rwanda and a German Enterprise, GTZ.
At that time, the institution was still known as K.I.S.T and it was not until 2014 that the Government of Rwanda passed Law N° 71/2013 establishing it as the now recognized University of Rwanda.
Nyarugenge campus which is home to Pure and Applied sciences as well as certain engineering fields can be accessed through three main entrance points. These points of entry are the K.H.I Gate (former entrance to the Kigali Higher Institute), Camp Kigali Gate and the Muhabura Gate.
University of Rwanda: A Place for the Resilient
Studying at this university, is considered to be some form of bravery by many. This conception stems from the idea that students of this institution of learning don’t have any intermission in their studies. However exaggerated this conception might be, it is not far from the truth as classes could run from mornings to afternoons and sometimes to evenings. It is calmness makes this swatting easier while its amazing alleys facilitate other activities such as morning runs and late night walks.
Dwindling social life on campus
Since this campus became the University of Rwanda, it has faced certain challenges causing overall socializing to deteriorate gravely and some may even say social life here is at the verge of extinction.To put all of this into context, the campus has a large stadium which is now occupied by huge tents that can potentially entertain massive events and allure students.
However, these tents are considered very expensive, reason why students would rather use the Rwampara Wetlands (which doesn’t look very appealing) than pay a considerably huge sum of money for the university stadium. Whether this stadium is managed by school authorities or not, one may love to believe that students will get a discount for school events given that this stadium is on campus; unfortunately this is not the case.
Therefore it is clearly seen that at the end of the day, students are given no reason to stay on campus hence the gravely deteriorating socialization. On the bright side, the campus still has a lot of unexploited land that can be used to boost social life through the construction of a gymnasium, a pool or any other facility that will heighten social interaction.