Number of students trained under ITEC hits 4500

Dar es Salaam. The number of students study under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) has increased to 4500 in the past four decades since the programme was started.
Minister for Education, Science and Technology Prof Joyce Ndalichako revealed said this on Thursday September 16, during the occasion of the ITEC day celebration which brought together beneficiaries and other guest.
“We started working with India in this program in 1972 and it started with 24 students from various department of the government including officers from Defense but today we are talking about thousands of Tanzanians who have benefited,” she said.
Prof Ndalichako said last year a total of 721 students from various sectors including education, health, water, communication were supposed to receive the long and short term training but due to Covid-19 it was suspended.
Speaking at the occasion, Indian High Commissioner in Tanzania Binaya Pradhan said, “We celebrate this day every year and bring scholars together and interact with them and share their experience in India.”
He said the ITEC programme offered unique training courses, both civilian and defense in different centres of excellence in India under short and long term in a wide and diverse range of skills and disciplines.
Mr Pradhan said the development cooperation has remained a basic pillar of Indian’s foreign policy, it flows from the philosophy of inter-connectedness and interdependence from the philosophy of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam.

“Both India and Tanzania are blessed with huge natural resources and we both enjoy demographic dividend. We also face similar challenges like population resource imbalances, inequalities along with rising aspiration of the youth, climate change, digital divide and changing technologies this need us to cooperate and working together,” he said.
A beneficiary Bahati Kimaro from Moshi Municipal Council said he had a great  experience in India as it is developed in the number of issues as he went there to increase knowledge on solid waste products.
“The knowledge I acquire from India is use to transform the solid waste into the other products,” now I have small industry that