Tanzania: Govt - We Strategize to Educate Innovative People

By Esther Takwa

THE government said it is well organized to educate people to Masters and PhD levels so that they

could effectively engage in research and innovations in various fields for the country to address challenges in the society.

That was said by the Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Juma Kipanga, while closing the 16th exhibition of higher learning education, science and technology organized by the Tanzania Commission of Universities (TCU) in Dar es Salaam, over the weekend.

Elaborating, he said that for the country to economically grow, it must invest in educating its people as professionals to have various skills in research and creativity.

Mr Kipanga added: "We will accomplish this through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project the government has in place... this will include improving infrastructures in the higher learning institutions and other areas under the ministry of finance and planning based on the integrated needs of both students and staffs." He said the work will also involve reviewing and improving current curriculums in the universities so that they produce creative people, not those loaded with non-implementable theories.

"We also intend to introduce new curriculums in priority areas to produce human resources, who will help in accelerating the development of our country in all sectors. "All this goes hand in hand with our 3rd National Five-Year Development Plan that is also determined to invest in a kind of research and creativity that uses modern technology to increase production and expand our economy," pointed out the Deputy Minister.

He further said that the higher education plays a vital role in producing skilled people, who have the ability to create and develop various technologies, capable of addressing challenges in the society.

"Growth of any economic sector cannot be achieved without the contribution of higher education, science and technology. Survey shows that in order to survive and for the economy to rise to another level, the country needs highly skilled human resources base of about 12 percent and medium skills of 26 percent," Mr Kipanga added.

In a related development, he urged the higher learning institutions to put more efforts on recruiting professionals as lecturers and in related workforce, saying: "Statistics show that until 2016 we only had 3.3 percent of people, who were skilled enough and that is still below the required percentage. "The government's goal is to ensure that by the year 2025/2026 economically the country enters into the higher middle economy as a result of the contribution of creative and skilled people." On his part, TCU Executive Secretary, Prof.

Charles Kihampa said that the commission intends to increase their cooperation with students, universities and other stakeholders to ensure that higher institutions offer quality education.

"The aim is to ensure that they create good environment for many students to enroll into the university... that is why such exhibitions are organized to showcase their talents and woo the public. "The exhibition was a good move, because within six days in its running it has simplified the enrollment process of registration and a total of 32, 356 students have applied to join the various Tanzanian universities, while others stakeholders had the opportunity to see what different institutions provide."