On 28th September 2022 in Kigali Polish Ambassador to Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Comoros Krzysztof Buzalski, consul Joanna Kruze and representatives of six Polish universities (Białystok University of Technology, Łódź University of Technology, Poznań University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska – UMCS – in Lublin and Warsaw University of Life Sciences) met the Minister of Education of Rwanda Dr Valentine Uwamariya. She presented the educational needs of the Rwandan society, emphasizing learning new technologies. Business Analytics and Data Science offered by UMCS fit here very well. Then the ambassador and the consul underlined the growing interest of the Rwandese in studying in Poland. 700 visas are issued annually, making Poland the most-preferred destination in the world by Rwandan candidates. And Rwanda ranks second among all Africans studying in Poland. The minister, reflecting on the reasons for the popularity of Polish universities among Rwandan youth, pointed to the high quality of education at affordable prices, as well as the possibility of occasional work by students whose families are not able to cover the entire cost.
There was also an honest exchange of views on the emerging problems: falsification of documents (although the number of such cases is decreasing); unfair practices of agents (e.g. a commission fee of 500 USD); issuing a visa only for a year (students wait a long time in voivodship offices for a residence permit, which prevents them, for example, from going to their family during the holidays); the need to travel to Dar es Salaam to obtain a visa. The consul explained that Polish law does not allow a visa that would be valid for more than one year. She also assured about the plans to create a diplomatic mission in Kigali, which should become operational in 2023.
