85 - Supporting the courses of students future prize winners of the technical schools by paying their costs incurred for visits to businesses and supporting the course tutors financially. The effective training of teaching staff and the creation of new subjects should be made a matter of concern especially today where there are only 36 technical schools with a total student strength of 8,000 pupils. 17.2.1.4. Higher Education and Scientific Research. This education is neither free nor compulsory. Nonetheless, since 2000 the private Universities have made it possible to increase the numbers in this sector. Higher Education and Scientific Research seek to achieve the following: - To guarantee high level intellectual and scientific training for the students and a qualitative moral and civic education to make them into efficient operators in socio-economic development and in the transformation of society. - To promote the development of research to support national development. In the area of University Education the years flow into each other and the available educational statistics are those of 2003-2004. During the 2003-2004 academic year there were 8,545 students whereas there are almost 11,500 in 2008 in the University of Burundi. It can be estimated that in 2010, the total number of students may well reach 13,000 students. As for the private Universities, they have a total of 16,364 students. It is therefore possible that in 2010, the number of students in these Universitites will be more than 20,000 students. Higher Education is today confronted by numerous problems which constitute challenges to be addressed if the harmonious development of Higher Education is to be achieved. Institutional instability is one of the features of higher education. In effect, it has changed structure and supervision several times resulting in a lack of coherence and constancy in its decisions. The higher education counselling system is not satisfactory. In effect, the orientation criteria for higher education are subjective and ineffective. The counselling Commission works on the basis of