Critical thinking at Rwanda's public universities: Emerging evidence of a crucial development priority

•220 first- and fourth-years at three universities completed a critical thinking assessment.•Results suggest that critical thinking ability within the study population is generally weak.•Cross-sectional analysis also indicates little difference between first- and fourth-year scores.•The implications are significant for Rwanda's national development strategy.

Rwanda's national development strategy relies heavily on expanding access to higher education, largely due to an assumption that a university education encourages the ability to think critically about problems and to use evidence when making decisions. This study empirically investigated this assumption by administering a performance-task-based test of critical thinking, adapted for use in Rwanda, to students enrolled at three of Rwanda's most prestigious public institutions. Results of the study suggest that Rwandan students are not substantially improving in their critical thinking ability during their time at university. These findings have significant implications for Rwanda's development agenda.