Kigali — The recent Sino-African Ministerial Educational Forum held in Beijing China at which Rwanda was represented by the State Minister for Higher Education Jean D'arc Mujawamariya laid the roadmap for the development of education sector in Rwanda.

During the Forum Mujawamariya, who was accompanied by the director of the Student Financing Agency for Rwanda (SFAR) Emmanuel Muvunyi, signed an agreement on educational exchange and cooperation that sets general principles of cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research of Rwanda and the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.

Particular emphasis of the agreement focused on the scholarships offered by China to Rwanda under bilateral cooperation arrangements, exchange of educational delegations and other core areas of cooperation such as teacher/researcher exchanges between higher learning institutions in both countries, emphasizing on areas such as food processing, ICT, rice growing and renewable energy, among others.

The minister also disclosed that plans were underway to establish a Confucius Institute in Kigali to teach the Chinese language and to teach life skills such as martial arts to Rwandans.

According to the agreement, the Chinese government will offer a maximum of thirty five scholarships each year but the minister proposed the possibility of increasing the number in future. This idea was welcomed by the Chinese side but would have to be further considered in future depending on the availability of the budget.

The Rwandan delegation that held talks with the leadership of some of the top universities in China including Beijing Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University and Peking University, also held meetings with the secretary general of the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the two agreed to strengthen cooperation and communication in executing the China-Rwanda cooperation scholarship programme and the new programme of Rwanda Government-funded students who will be studying in China.

"Rwanda Government shall send Rwandan students to undertake undergraduate and postgraduate studies in China with the understanding that it is for the Rwandan Government to bear all expenses relating to their studies" Mujawamariya, said adding however, that the number would be determined each year depending on the budget adopted for foreign scholarships.

During the forum that brought together over fifteen African education ministers, the Beijing Declaration of Sino-African Educational Ministers Forum, which guarantees free and compulsory education and equity in provision and prioritization of education as the basis for human resource development in developing countries, was also signed.