University of Burundi - History of Higher Education

History of Higher Education

At the beginning of the 1960s, higher education in Burundi was composed of three institutions: the Institute of Agriculture of Ruanda-Urundi, the institut facultaire of Usumbura (University institute of Usumbura), and the Faculty of Science of Usumbura. In 1964, these three institutions merged to create the official University of Bujumbura, known as the Université officielle de Bujumbura (UOB).

In 1965, the teacher training college known as Ecole Normale supérieure, ENS, (Teacher's School) was created with the mission of training the teachers of the junior secondary schools. In 1972, the national school of administration known as Ecole nationale d’administration, ENA, (National Advanced School for Administration) was established for training civil servants.

In 1973, the UOB, ENS, and ENA merged to create the University of Burundi. This fusion was not carried out immediately: the ENA was integrated into the faculty of economics and administration of the UOB in 1975, and the UOB and the ENS were merged only in 1977.

At the beginning of 1980s, four other non-university higher education institutions were created to train the technical staff required by the civil service. This includes the School of Journalism, the School of Commerce, the Institute of Town Planning and Development, and the Institute of Agriculture.

In 1989, these institutions were integrated into the University of Burundi. The major objective of this integration was to optimize the use of the resources allocated to higher education. In the process of integration, the School of Commerce changed its name to become the Institute of Commerce.