President Jakaya Kikwete has said Tanzania will not quit the East African Community. PHOTO|FILE
Indeed
in this information era, good management of governments, institutions
and projects requires those in- charge to work scientifically and
transparently. Under such circumstances research becomes vital, as it
helps administrators to make informed decisions.
It is for this reason that the initiative taken by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) to undertake a detailed study so as to determine the cost of running academic programmes in higher learning institutions has been well received by policy makers and members of the public.
While launching what is referred to as the students unit cost framework study in Dar es Salaam, a few days back, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training categorically pointed out that the results obtained will provide criteria for setting tuition fee rates to be charged by all higher institutions of learning countrywide.
The good thing about this approach is that at the end of the day it ensures fairness to all major stakeholders, namely students, teaching institutions and even the government.
There have always been complaints about the status quo, where institutions arbitrarily set fees for different courses offered on the basis each institution’s cost analysis model, thus leading to big variation in fees even for courses of similar nature. Consequently, allegations of exploitatition of students through unrealistic charges by some higher learning institutions are common.
Who can dare say these claims are simply imaginary in a situation where there are loopholes to allow such malpractices to take place?
We are told there has been adequate consultation with TCU stakeholders, as the initiative began several years back.
Of course taking many years to do this kind of work leaves much to be desired, and only those who believe in the notion that the end justifies the means can be happy about this style of doing things.
There is no doubt that costs of doing business in our environment are increasing yearly and higher institutions of learning, like other organizations, are feeling the pinch.
For most of these institutions, the way out of this economic dilemma has been to increase the fees all the time, thus shifting the entire burden to students and their parents.
As education experts have often suggested, institutions of higher learning ought to be more creative and aggressive in terms of initiating academic related income generating projects, such as contracted research and consultancy work.
This is how their counterparts in many parts of the World are today managing to remain afloat in the rough economic waters characterizing our times.
Another obvious advantage of determining the costs of running different academic programmes is that doing so facilitates better planning and budgeting activities undertaken by both educational institutions and the government.
In fact, the latter may now be in position to know how to assist private institutions of higher learning as, in some cases, they need and deserve such support.
This mainly applies to those offering science related programmes, thus reducing the shortage of experts in this important area.
Some online commentors on this development are raising another pertinent issue on fees charged by institutions of higher learning. This is about terms of payment, where some institutions require students to pay the fees in one installment.
Tanzania Law School, which provides a one year course to law graduates, now charges Sh2.5m and reportedly requires entrants to pay the fees in one installment.
Complaints that such a condition works in the interests of the elite, and locks out sons and daughters of poor peasants as well as low income urban workers, is genuine. One fails to understand the justification of this practice when most of the institutional running expenses are not paid on annual basis.
There is also much concern about fee rates at lower levels of education, that from kindergarten to high schools. The fees are set arbitrarily too and depend on many factors, including the kind of services provided.
However, some of the so-called English medium schools have set very high fees to the extent only rich parents can afford them. But in a situation where education is today increasingly considered as one of the basic human rights worldwide, this trend should not be allowed to continue in our society.
As we conclude, another interesting question can as well be: Does the new development mean the Ministry of Education is departing from the tendency to make important policy decisions through the trial-and-error approach we are used to? One hopes the answer to this question is a positive one.
Henry Muhanika is a Media Consultant (hmuhanika@yahoo.com)
It is for this reason that the initiative taken by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) to undertake a detailed study so as to determine the cost of running academic programmes in higher learning institutions has been well received by policy makers and members of the public.
While launching what is referred to as the students unit cost framework study in Dar es Salaam, a few days back, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training categorically pointed out that the results obtained will provide criteria for setting tuition fee rates to be charged by all higher institutions of learning countrywide.
The good thing about this approach is that at the end of the day it ensures fairness to all major stakeholders, namely students, teaching institutions and even the government.
There have always been complaints about the status quo, where institutions arbitrarily set fees for different courses offered on the basis each institution’s cost analysis model, thus leading to big variation in fees even for courses of similar nature. Consequently, allegations of exploitatition of students through unrealistic charges by some higher learning institutions are common.
Who can dare say these claims are simply imaginary in a situation where there are loopholes to allow such malpractices to take place?
We are told there has been adequate consultation with TCU stakeholders, as the initiative began several years back.
Of course taking many years to do this kind of work leaves much to be desired, and only those who believe in the notion that the end justifies the means can be happy about this style of doing things.
There is no doubt that costs of doing business in our environment are increasing yearly and higher institutions of learning, like other organizations, are feeling the pinch.
For most of these institutions, the way out of this economic dilemma has been to increase the fees all the time, thus shifting the entire burden to students and their parents.
As education experts have often suggested, institutions of higher learning ought to be more creative and aggressive in terms of initiating academic related income generating projects, such as contracted research and consultancy work.
This is how their counterparts in many parts of the World are today managing to remain afloat in the rough economic waters characterizing our times.
Another obvious advantage of determining the costs of running different academic programmes is that doing so facilitates better planning and budgeting activities undertaken by both educational institutions and the government.
In fact, the latter may now be in position to know how to assist private institutions of higher learning as, in some cases, they need and deserve such support.
This mainly applies to those offering science related programmes, thus reducing the shortage of experts in this important area.
Some online commentors on this development are raising another pertinent issue on fees charged by institutions of higher learning. This is about terms of payment, where some institutions require students to pay the fees in one installment.
Tanzania Law School, which provides a one year course to law graduates, now charges Sh2.5m and reportedly requires entrants to pay the fees in one installment.
Complaints that such a condition works in the interests of the elite, and locks out sons and daughters of poor peasants as well as low income urban workers, is genuine. One fails to understand the justification of this practice when most of the institutional running expenses are not paid on annual basis.
There is also much concern about fee rates at lower levels of education, that from kindergarten to high schools. The fees are set arbitrarily too and depend on many factors, including the kind of services provided.
However, some of the so-called English medium schools have set very high fees to the extent only rich parents can afford them. But in a situation where education is today increasingly considered as one of the basic human rights worldwide, this trend should not be allowed to continue in our society.
As we conclude, another interesting question can as well be: Does the new development mean the Ministry of Education is departing from the tendency to make important policy decisions through the trial-and-error approach we are used to? One hopes the answer to this question is a positive one.
Henry Muhanika is a Media Consultant (hmuhanika@yahoo.com)
SOURCE:
GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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