How graduates can compete in labour market
What you need to know:
- However, he emphasized that the focus of the courses offered should be on the labor market as well as self-employment.
Arusha. Education, Science, and Technology Permanent Secretary (PS) Francis Michael has revealed what was needed to enable graduates to be highly competitive in the labour market.
On Thursday, he stated that young learners must embrace modern technologies used in key productive sectors.
“We should embrace digital technologies to the best of our ability,” he said when he graced a graduation ceremony at the Arusha Technical College (ATC).
He challenged the management of the institution to ensure the technical training it offered was aligned with skills in the labour market.
Although he lauded the college for its major transformation in recent years, the PS insisted the focus now should shift on skills in high demand.
“You have to upgrade the training modules that are in high demand locally and outside the country,” he pointed out.
Dr Michael cited the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which conceptualizes rapid change in technology such as smart automation.
“One of the hallmarks of 4th IR is interconnectivity through digital technology,” he said as he graced the graduation of 962 students, 205 of them female.
His speech was read on his behalf by Prof Maulilio J. Kipanyula, the director of science, technology, and innovation in the education, science, and technology ministry.
He said the government appreciated the efforts that have seen ATC use its technicians to implement major construction projects.
However, he emphasized that the focus of the courses offered should be on the labor market as well as self-employment.
“The labour market needs to take the East African Community (EAC) bloc into consideration.” “We should be highly competitive to capture them,” he said.
The PS emphasized that digital technologies are not just for robotics and related analytics fantasies.
“They have made immense contributions to our financial, education, transport, industrial, health, and agricultural sectors,” he said.
The college rector, Dr Mussa Chacha, outlined major projects completed using internally generated funds.
These included the hostel with the capacity to host 428 female students, thus increasing the accommodation capacity for the same to 608.
Another is the completion of a three-story building, which hosts laboratories, lecture rooms, staff offices, and stores.
According to him, the two projects have been realized through Force Accounts through the college Production and Consultancy Bureau.
In addition to academic achievements, they need soft skills and discipline: integrity, ethics, effective communication, a positive attitude towards work, and productivity.
But, Repoa executive director Donald Mmari said in addition to academic achievements, graduates also need soft skills and discipline.
“They should also have integrity, ethics; effective communication, a positive attitude towards work, and be productive,” he told this paper.
For his part, an economics professor at the University of Iringa (UoI), Enock Wiketye, said nothing taught to graduates will not benefit the country.
“It is probably our failure to understand how we can benefit. Not only is it a matter of graduates, but also government policies that should ensure opportunities in almost all sectors are exploited for the benefit of the country,” he said.
He said little investment has been made in the entertainment industry for unveiling and developing talents in different areas, including sports, music, and movies, to mention but a few.
“Countries like the US, Nigeria, and India have massively developed the entertainment sector, which now heavily contributes to the national economy. On the contrary, less has been done by Tanzania, with only a few universities and middle colleges providing such courses,” he said.
