Country
Rwanda
Which bodies have a remit over qualifications and continuing professional development in Rwanda, where that remit stops, and what happens to a qualification arriving from outside.
The system in short
Rwanda splits responsibility by level rather than by sector. The technical and vocational board covers the lower levels of the national TVET framework, and higher education, including the recognition of degrees earned abroad, sits with the Higher Education Council. Recognition of a foreign qualification is a defined service with a published fee and turnaround. Continuing professional development belongs to the professional councils, and the published requirements are not always restated each time a licence period turns over.
Is CPD required
The Rwanda Medical and Dental Council requires evidence of continuing professional development when a practitioner applies to renew an annual licence. The most recent figure the Council has published on its own site is at least 50 CPD credits for medical doctors, either from its own e-learning or from other continuing medical education, and that announcement relates to the July 2024 to June 2025 licence period. The Council’s notice opening renewals for the July 2026 to June 2027 period does not restate a credit figure, so the number applying to the current period has not been confirmed from the Council itself. Practising without a valid annual licence, or employing a doctor who does not hold one, is stated by the Council to contravene Law No 44/2012.
The qualifications framework
Rwanda TVET Qualification Framework (RTQF)
The Rwanda TVET Board was established by presidential order No. 123/01 of 15 October 2020, under the Ministry of Education, and its stated mission is to promote quality technical and vocational education and training from level one to level five of the Rwanda TVET Qualification Framework. Levels above that are not part of the Board’s remit, and higher education qualifications are dealt with by the Higher Education Council. The total number of levels in the framework is not stated on the Board’s own pages and is not recorded here for that reason.
A qualification from outside the country
HEC equivalence certificate
Someone who completed their higher education outside Rwanda applies to the Higher Education Council for an equivalence certificate, which confirms that the foreign qualification is comparable to a Rwandan one. The Council covers qualifications from diploma through to doctorate, and accepts qualifications earned in person, fully online, blended or by distance learning. An application needs a notarised copy of the final certificate and notarised transcripts for each level studied, with certified translation where documents are not in English or French. The published fee is 60,000 Rwandan francs for Rwandan applicants and 120 US dollars for non-Rwandans, and the certificate is issued within 10 working days once all documents and confirmation from the awarding institution have been received.
Bodies with a remit
Higher Education Council
Issues equivalence certificates recognising higher education qualifications earned outside Rwanda, from diploma to doctorate, and verifies them with the awarding institution before equating them to a Rwandan qualification.
Outside its remit: Technical and vocational qualifications at the lower levels of the national framework, which are the Rwanda TVET Board’s territory rather than the Council’s.
Rwanda TVET Board
Promotes and manages technical and vocational education and training from level one to level five of the Rwanda TVET Qualification Framework. Established by presidential order No. 123/01 of 15 October 2020 under the Ministry of Education.
Outside its remit: Anything above level five, including higher education qualifications, which fall to the Higher Education Council.
Rwanda Medical and Dental Council
Licenses medical and dental practitioners annually and requires evidence of continuing professional development at renewal. Renewals for the July 2026 to June 2027 period are made through the Council’s digital platform.
Outside its remit: Nurses, midwives, pharmacists and allied cadres, which are regulated by their own councils.
Where nothing covers you
Not yet checked
Only the medical and dental regulator has been read, and even there the credit figure applying to the current licence period has not been confirmed from the Council. Rwanda’s other regulated professions set their own requirements, and those have not been checked.
No check recorded