BUJUMBURA December 27th (ABP) – During the Cabinet Meeting held on December 21, 2022, a Note on the inspection of Faculties of Medicine of Burundi by the East African Community was among the items on the agenda, according to the press release from the General Secretariat of the State.
Indeed, it was specified that the 3rd joint inspection of the Faculties of Medicine and university hospitals of the Republic of Burundi was carried out by a joint team of technical experts from the National Councils of the Order of Physicians of the partner States of the EAC from 2 to 3 November 2022. Such a joint inspection had already been carried out in the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Rwanda. That activity was organized in accordance with a directive of the 19th Ordinary Meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers of EAC Member States responsible for Health, according to the press release.
The inspection exercise aims to establish compliance of universities with the standards and guidelines governing schools of medicine and dentistry in the East African Community, with a view to improving services and promoting harmonization education and university education in the region. In addition, the inspection aimed to verify the state of implementation of the recommendations from the 2nd joint inspection.
The inspectors used an assessment tool pre-established and jointly signed by the EAC Member States and which notably includes the main areas of assessment. These are governance and management, academic programs, infrastructure and equipment, human resources, student life, program monitoring and evaluation, research and innovation.
According to the assessment criteria, a mark below 50% means that there is no compliance with the standards and the recommendation is the closure of the faculty. A score between 50% and 80% means that there is partial compliance with the standards and the recommendation is a re-inspection in three to six months. A score between 80% and 100% means that there is compliance with the minimum standards and the recommendation is to continue improving and maintaining the standards.
As results at the three Universities of Burundi inspected, Hope Africa University obtained 62.5%, the University of Burundi obtained 58% and the University of Ngozi obtained 50.5%. The finding is that those Universities have partially complied with regional standards and guidelines for the inspection and recognition of Faculties of Medicine and University Hospitals in EAC Partner States. They will be reassessed in 6 months at the expense of those Universities.