Mount Kigali University (MKU) convened a full-day Quality Assurance training for academic and administrative staff on Tuesday, 9th June 2026, at Kigali Paramount Hotel, under the theme “Building a Quality Culture in Higher Education.” The training brought together university leadership, deans, heads of department, lecturers, and administrative staff for a structured programme of sessions covering regulatory compliance, examination integrity, internal quality assurance tools, virtual learning standards, and the role of leadership in sustaining a culture of quality across the institution.
Opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Ruth Thinguri, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and Research Affairs (DVCARA), who set the tone for the day before leading the first technical session on the Role of Deans, Heads of Department, and Academic Staff in the Quality Assurance Journey. Dr. Thinguri framed quality assurance as a shared institutional responsibility, distributed across leadership, departments, faculty, and students, and outlined how deans, HoDs, and academic staff each carry distinct but interconnected obligations, from curriculum review and compliance audits to course delivery, fair assessment, and the maintenance of documented evidence of quality practice.
The Academic Registrar, Francis Mwangi, then led back-to-back sessions on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and the Regulations Governing Higher Education in Rwanda. The first covered NQF levels, learning outcomes, and the requirements for programme accreditation and compliance; the second addressed institutional obligations under national higher education regulation, including the legal provisions governing examination conduct and administrative sanctions for malpractice.
Examination Quality Assurance was the focus of a session by Morris Gitonga, who addressed assessment design, integrity policies, and secure examination management. He took staff through aligning assessments with intended learning outcomes, the use of varied assessment methods, clear policies on plagiarism and academic misconduct, internal moderation and the engagement of external examiners, and the secure handling of examination papers from setting through to printing, storage, and distribution. The session also covered the role of technology, including plagiarism-detection tools and approved online proctoring, in safeguarding assessment integrity.
Dr. Aline Dorimana followed with a session on Internal Quality Assurance Guidelines and Tools, distinguishing internal quality assurance, continuous, improvement-focused, and driven by the institution itself, from external quality assurance, which is periodic and compliance-focused. She described IQA as the totality of institutional processes used to monitor, evaluate, maintain, and improve quality across teaching, assessment, programmes, and student support, anchored in self-assessment and internal audit, and reminded staff that quality remains everyone’s responsibility.
In the afternoon, Amos of the E-Learning Unit guided staff through HEC’s guidelines for Virtual Learning within higher learning institutions, outlining the four recognised modes of programme delivery, face-to-face with ICT integration, blended learning, fully online learning, and distance learning, and the common requirements each must meet in infrastructure, learning management systems, and staff and student readiness. The session paid particular attention to blended learning, covering materials development, staff training needs, governance structures, and limits on the proportion of online assessment, before introducing MKU’s own Virtual Learning Management System, accessible at vlms.mkur.ac.rw, and the parameters used to monitor its use across units.
The day’s final and most anticipated session, Leadership and Institutional Commitment to Quality Assurance, was delivered by Vice Chancellor Dr. Martin Kimemia, PhD, CHRP-K. He linked MKU’s vision, to be a citadel for teaching, learning, and research in pursuit of excellence in science, technology, and innovation, to the everyday discipline of quality assurance, tracing the same thread through the university’s mission, slogan, and five core values of excellence, accountability, integrity, creativity, and equity. He described leadership’s role in quality assurance as setting vision and direction, allocating resources, promoting accountability, and leading by example, citing John C. Maxwell’s observation that “a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
The Vice Chancellor framed institutional commitment in terms of strong policies and procedures, compliance with HEC standards, evidence-based decision-making, and regular monitoring and evaluation, before turning to the harder task of building a quality culture through shared values, staff and student engagement, continuous feedback, and recognition of good practice. Acknowledging the challenges of adapting to changing higher education demands, integrating technology, building capacity, and strengthening stakeholder partnerships, he closed with a call to strengthen quality assurance systems, foster continuous improvement, and sustain a culture of excellence, reminding staff that quality assurance is not a destination but a continuous journey.
The day closed with an open discussion and recommendations session facilitated by Dr. Aline Dorimana, giving staff the opportunity to raise questions arising from the day’s presentations, before the Vice Chancellor delivered closing remarks. The training reflects MKU’s continuing effort to align its academic and institutional practices with national quality assurance requirements, and to embed quality as everyone’s responsibility, in keeping with the university’s own commitment to empowering generations through quality education.