Education reforms to ensure graduates create own jobs
What you need to know:
- There have been growing concerns that often graduates lack the necessary entrepreneurial skills for creating their own jobs
Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday stressed that the ongoing reforms in education were aimed at ensuring that graduates would be able to create own jobs, instead of carrying around their certificates in search for employment.
The government is currently collecting public opinions for reviewing the education policy and entire system.
Education, Science and Technology permanent secretary Francis Michael said the government was determined to change the education system to enable the graduates go for self employment.
“We need to change our education system so as to provide relevant skills to our graduates. We want people who will create own jobs after college, not to start walking around with an envelope looking for a job,” said Dr Michael.
There have been growing concerns that often graduates lack the necessary entrepreneurial skills for creating their own jobs while the private sector continues to lament over the mismatch between credits on academic certificates and skills level demanded by the market.
The debate about education currently hangs around policy review, legal framework, change of the curricula, demand and quality of teachers, trainers and lecturers, demand of infrastructure as well as that of working tools.
Dr Michael who opened an academic conference commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the passing on of Tanzania’s first President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere at the Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial College (MNMA), stressed that the government was determined to change the education system for better.
“We are currently in the second round of collecting opinions before moving to the third and then continue with other processes until the completion of the policy,” he said.
For his part, the head of the college, Prof Shadrack Mwakalila, said the conference was organised to honour Mwalimu Nyerere’s efforts to fight against the three arch-enemies -- ignorance, poverty and disease.
Various topics are scheduled for presentation during the two-day meeting highlighting the contribution of Mwalimu Nyerere in strengthening the welfare development and the future of the nation.
Along with other stakeholder, Dr Bertha Mleke, a lecturer at the college, emphasized the need for focusing on the ideas of Mwalimu Nyerere whom she said was on the forefront on promoting education among Tanzanians.
“Our government should look at it with an extra eye…it should encourage people to focus on education but from an employment perspective,” she said.
