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The plight of 'starving' Tanzanian university professors: Part I
What you need to know:
- Low pay and unpaid salaries drive Tanzanian professors to abandon lecture halls for greener pastures
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s higher education academic pillars, entrusted with shaping the minds of the future elite, are battling a severe crisis of motivation due to meagre salaries and the absence of substantial benefits, The Citizen can report.
Despite a substantial education budget, the plight of these educators has been deteriorating, prompting some to leave academia for more lucrative opportunities.
In the 2024/25 fiscal year, for instance, the ministry of Education has been allocated a whopping Sh1.97 trillion, a notable increase from Sh1.67 trillion in 2023/24.
Interviews and surveys conducted by The Citizen in four public and three private higher learning institutions have unveiled a stark reality, with many of the interviewed lecturers and professors believing the quest for quality education is a long and strenuous journey fraught with obstacles.
The allure of politics, government jobs, consultancies and teaching gigs in foreign universities, with their promise of better financial rewards and status, have progressively become attractive escapes from the harsh conditions of academic life.
The situation has also demotivated the younger generation of academics desiring to become professors, thus making them opt for other, more lucrative avenues.
This has highly disrupted the new teaching staff initiation process by retaining the best-performing graduates. Attracting new professors has also been difficult.
As a result, Tanzania faces a serious shortage of university lecturers.
In Parliament, the shortage of university lecturers has sparked heated debates during the ongoing budget session, often led by former lecturers now serving as MPs or ministers.
Muleba South legislator, Dr Oscar Ishengoma, pointed out recently that the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) has only 93 professors instead of the required 161.
Dr Ishengoma, who taught on a part-time basis at the UDSM, Dar es Salaam Maritime Institute and the National Institute of Transport for a decade (2010–2020), urged the government to rectify the situation as soon as possible.
The issue is exacerbated by the fact that many senior staff work on contracts post-retirement, a temporary Band-Aid on a deep wound.
Despite the shortage of university lecturers, the enrollment of new students continues to rise, and more campuses are being established.
A lecturer from the University of Dodoma (Udom) who asked for anonymity said it was unfortunate that the rising number of enrolments in higher learning institutions coincided with the decreasing number of professors.
“Students are encouraged to join universities in droves, but the number of lecturers doesn't keep up with the pace, leading to deteriorating education quality,” asserts the senior professor from UDOM.
He argues that improving lecturers’ employment packages could significantly boost morale and retention.
“Teaching at a university should be a respected and rewarding career, not a last resort for those with no other options,” he noted.
A lecturer at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (Duce), Mr Conrad Masabo, also notes with concerns that the rapid expansion of higher education institutions and student numbers hasn’t been matched by increased employment of the teaching staff.
“The transfer of staff to new institutions and the growing student numbers have led to more teaching hours, reducing time for research,” he notes in one of his articles.
The long-standing problem of academic staffing means that few lecturers have to sacrifice significant research time for teaching, impacting the quality of education and innovation.
The situation at private universities is beyond description: "Here we find ourselves going two to three months without payment, but we keep working. There are times when you wish to quit this job, but you have no other job to turn to at that moment," explains a lecturer from a private university who sought to remain anonymous.
He also notes that the shortage of lecturers is a significant problem.
"You are forced to work ‘24 hours’ without resting. There are not enough lecturers, and professors are even scarcer. If you are lucky, you might find just one in some departments," he explains.
He further said that it can take up to 30 years to become a professor in Tanzania.
"But even after completing it, you find that there is no motivation. You are left just being proud of the professorial title," he notes.
Responding to raised concerns, Education, Science, and Technology Minister, Prof Adolf Mkenda, told Parliament recently that the government acknowledged the challenge of congestion in universities and outlined plans to address the issue.
“We are expanding infrastructure and improving the environment for lecturers through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project,” he said.
According to him, new campuses will be established to decongest existing universities, and the government is ensuring higher learning institutions are adequately staffed.
