UDSM ranked 4th in Africa university list

Nkrumah Hall is the world-famous symbol of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).  PHOTO | FILE 

By Katare Mbashiru,The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

• Dar varsity has been placed behind the University of South Africa, University of Cape Town and University of Stellenbosch, all of South Africa, according to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities
• Study ranks universities from all over the world based on their web presence and impact

Dar es Salaam. A new ranking has placed the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) fourth among 100 top African universities.

UDSM has been placed behind the University of South Africa, University of Cape Town and University of Stellenbosch, all of South Africa, according to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

The ranking, also known as Ranking Web of World Universities, aims at providing reliable, multidimensional, updated and useful information about the performance of universities from all over the world based on their web presence and impact.

Its objective is to improve the presence of academic and research institutions on the Web and to promote the open access publication of scientific results.

UDSM Vice Chancellor Rwekaza Mukandala yesterday attributed the university’s high placing to a new strategy  aimed at boosting general academic achievement and performance.

“With the assistance of the government, we have managed to add more lecture theatres and other necessary academic requirements that have led to performance improving significantly in recent years,’’ he said.

Prof Mukandala said a curriculum review at the university had also helped to this end.

UDSM is ranked first in East Africa followed by Uganda’s Makerere University and the University of Nairobi in Kenya, which are 11th and 20th, respectively, in Africa.

UDSM has been progressively doing well since the ranking, which is published every six months, was established in 2004.

The university’s deputy vice chancellor (academics), Prof Makenya Maboko, said UDSM had “very competent” lecturers, who were among the best in Africa.

“We have raised the bar in terms of the quality of research and lecturers. This has contributed immensely to the university’s improved ranking,’’he said.

In January 2011, UDSM was 34th among Africa’s top 100 universities, but dropped to 38th in July of the same year.

It rose to 21st in  January 2012 before climbing eight places to 13th in July of the same year.

Some education stakeholders said relative calm at the university in recent years could have contributed to its steady climb up the Webometrics ranking.

The university was between 2008 and 2011 bedevilled by strikes and violent clashes between students and police.

This often prompted the administration to consolidate programmes to make up for the time wasted through boycotts and closures.

But Prof Maboko told The Citizen that strikes were not a factor, and maintained that the improved quality of academics was the secret behind UDSM’s rapid ascent in the ranking.

“There hasn’t been a boycott of classes at any university in recent months. If this were a factor, then we would have expected to see other Tanzanian universities up there with UDSM,” he said.