University education should meet 21st century demands

President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s efforts to reform the education sector since taking top office in 2021 were more vivid in 2022, and the Head of State has much higher expectations from the sector this year.

Her exemplary work to improve the quality of education attracted stakeholders’ attention and led to her getting a memorable award, an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa) from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

President Hassan, was one of the awardees during the University of Dar es Salaam’s 52nd graduation ceremony, an event that saw more than 11,000 graduates awarded degrees in various disciplines.

“I recognise that by accepting this honour, I am joining the ranks of other alumni of this renowned university. I am part of this university which produces professionals who contribute in different ways to the nation,” said President Hassan at the ceremony.

Prof Bonaventure Lutinwa, UDSM’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, explained that the honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) conferred on the President is given to a person who has demonstrated the best learning in humanity and social science in general.

Even though honorary degrees are usually given to people who have made great contributions in society for a long time, President Hassan’s determination to change the tides in the country through the promises she made when she came to power convinced UDSM’s Senate that she deserved the award.

According to UDSM’s rules for awarding an honorary degree, the recipient must have met one of these criteria; made a great contribution to education, contributed to solving any challenge, or made a great and clear contribution in defending human rights.

In addition to strengthening technical education by constructing new colleges and vocational training centers in every district, the President has been at the forefront of initiatives to bring about reforms in the education system.

She introduced various projects, including the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET), whose implementation officially started in 2022. The President aims to transform the higher education sector, in addition to the great things she has done in the primary and secondary school areas, such as infrastructure expansion.

During UDSM’s 52nd graduation, 11,168 students graduated at various levels, including President Hassan’s honorary degree and another 141 doctorate degrees. In that total, there were 5,470 men and 5,698 women.

The President emphasised the need for the country’s educational system to be upgraded in order to better meet the needs of the market during the graduation ceremony.

She stated that education and knowledge were not static but rather dynamic, changing with the passage of time in response to changes in society and the world.

Giving an example of the change, the president said that today people talk about the education of new technology in various fields that did not exist in the past centuries, or if it did, it was not at the level it is today.

“The question here is, what does this situation teach us?” She queried, adding that in the education industry in general, the most important thing is academic freedom, meaning the right of academics to form groups and follow the policies, laws, and guidelines of college councils.

She said these academics can decide the institution’s curriculum, content, teaching, and examinations, conduct research according to the environment in order to move with the times, and thus express their thoughts and opinions freely without any restrictions.

From that perspective, it is bad to limit academic freedom since development occurs in environments where people are free to think and share their ideas without fear. “This is why freedom of expression is a very crucial pillar in the operation of the government,” she explained.

The role of education institutions

The President said in addition to academic freedom, the president said universities have a duty to support national development by offering high-quality education, carrying out research, and expressing viewpoints.

Since she took office, she said her administration has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that Tanzanian students receive an education that is relevant to society in the 21st century.

The education offered at our educational institutions “should enable graduates to have skills that enable them to be self-employed, employed, or entrepreneurs and be ready to contribute to the development of our nation as soon as they graduate, “ the President said.

President Hassan expressed her satisfaction with UDSM’s 2061 vision of providing a type of education that focuses on meeting the needs of the community as well as producing skilled graduates.

She explained that UDSM has started the process of reviewing its curricula so that, among other things, it can focus more on providing education and skills. “Let me ask all other colleges that have not done so to imitate UDSM for the benefit of our nation.”

“I remind you that our strategies and goals should aim to reach the highest level on the international scale,” she said. Universities can stimulate employment for graduates and also increase their contribution to development by establishing technological incubators/parks that will be the testing and refining grounds for ideas or creative visualisation and wealth production.

“I want to assure all universities of great cooperation from the government if they do that because we must plan to hold their hands and help them do that,” she noted.

The President explained that she was aware of the challenges in colleges, including those of service, the process of hiring professionals and non-professionals, and many others.

“The government is following up, and we will make our contribution by setting policies and putting strategies in place...including increasing the education budget…We want to ensure that we do not leave anyone behind,” she explained.

Major milestones in 2022

In June 2022, all was set for Tanzania to kick off implementation of the $425 million (Sh972 billion) Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project, following the signing of a grant agreement between the ministry of education and the heads of public universities.

The five-year project, which is a nod by the World Bank and was officially signed between the bank and the Tanzanian government in May 2021, had been eagerly anticipated by beneficiaries, including universities and some other higher education institutions, since 2016.

University principals had long complained about the lack of infrastructure at a time when student enrollments continued to rise, but also about the lack of enough funding for the further training of lecturers.

The project that is now being implemented by the institutions involved is expected to bring significant changes in higher education provision.

Science scholarships

In order to increase the number of students in science studies, the year 2022 witnessed many efforts being made by the government and other institutions with the aim of motivating students to study science.

In September, 2022 the education ministry introduced the Samia Scholarship for undergraduate studies sponsorship for high school students who performed well in 2022 exams.

The scholarship covers 100 percent of university tuition for more than 500 students who have excelled in the fields of technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine based on several merits including good performance.

The University of Dar es Salaam again in 2022, announced scholarships for 50 students who excelled in the Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations, the main priority being for those who did well in science.

The scholarship, dubbed; UDSM Merit Scholarships,” which is in its fourth year will also involve 10 students in the Master’s programme.