Why ICT courses are crucial in tertiary educational institutions

Dar es Salaam. The world has moved from analog to digital systems, whereas the use of information and communication technologies has become important and necessary in various work areas.

As a result, the knowledge and skills of how to use information and communication technologies have become an important tool in the training of various professions in universities and colleges across the globe.

That is due to the fact that students are prepared to do various jobs as per the needs of their respective professions, whether through corporate or self-employment.

Despite that trend, education systems in the country still do not give priority to the best way to combine theoretical and practical education, especially how information and communication technologies are used according to the relevant profession.

Due to this situation, various companies and institutions have been giving priority to job applicants with the ability to use information and communication technologies due to the reality that in workplaces, the use of technology is necessary.

So, for a person to fulfil his professional duties, he must be friendly with those technologies.

It is an indisputable fact that the situation has forced various companies and institutions to provide training to new employees to give them knowledge and skills on how to use information and communication technologies through various applications.

However, that has not been seen as a solution to the problem due to the fact that the problem starts where they come from, which is educational institutions, especially colleges and universities.

Experts say that in order to solve the problem, it is necessary to cut the roots through relevant training in universities and colleges to prepare the best employees in government, civil society, and private organisations.

How to mitigate it

Mr Richard Ngaiza, an assistant lecturer in the department of social sciences and mass communications at Tumaini University Dar es Salaam College (TUDARCo), said it is good for universities in the country to teach students how to interact with technology because there is no way one can avoid technology in this era of globalisation.

“Everything is now connected to technology. We must train students in the same direction and speed as the entire world. Otherwise, colleges and universities will produce graduates who do not have skills that are compatible with today’s world and cause an increase in the number of unemployable graduates,” he said.

According to him, not only being employed but even the ability to employ oneself will come from the way they have been trained in the colleges.

He added; “If they have been trained about the use of technology according to their professions, it will help them know what to do to employ themselves. Otherwise, they will remain unemployed and hopeless.”

Mr Ngaiza added that lecturers should give assignments and projects and use various other methods to make students have the motivation to learn and understand the use of technology according to their professions.

“I have been assigning my students projects on how to do small and medium business ventures marketing through social media,” he said.

“I believe it helps them because, by doing it in practise, it becomes easier for them to understand the use of relevant networks and the best way to use those networks to bring good answers according to their goals and objectives.”

“That will help them even if they graduate from the university. They can do online marketing for their own businesses and earn income as part of self-employment and not wait to be hired by companies or the government,” he continued.

 Ms Imelda Laurent, an assistant lecturer in the Business Studies department at Ardhi University, said “better late than never.” By this she meant that colleges and universities should adapt to the world of science and technology by teaching students the use of these technologies because they have simplified the way of working and reduced the use of time in the implementation of responsibilities related to the particular profession.

“Things have changed. Students should be trained on how to do things on their own without the help of technology, but they should also be trained on how to do the same things through information and communication technologies such as software applications,” she said.

“For example, in accounting and related professions, there are accounting packages that any person with those professions must be friendly to use them, because many of the things that are calculated by a person have been simplified in those software applications. All you need to know are formulas to get the correct information and answers as needed,” she continued.

“Not only accounting-related professions, but even other professions have their own way of using information and communication technologies to carry out their professional activities more easily,” she added.

She further suggested that Tanzanian students should be educated in a friendly environment with the use of information and communication technologies at the lower levels of education in the country.

This will teach them how to use technology well and make it easy for lecturers to teach them how to use software applications related to their professions, respectively.

“I don’t see the rightness of our students starting to learn basic computer applications while at university; it will be better if they learn it at the primary and secondary school levels to simplify the way to train them to use applications related to their professions at the higher education levels,” she said.

“It’s like betting, teaching a student how to use a certain software application when he doesn’t even know how to turn on a computer. But if he has a basic education on how to use a computer, it becomes easier to go to the relevant application and teach him how to use it,” she added.

However, Ms Laurent said, it is important for lecturers to hold themselves accountable by preparing course outlines that will include trainings and lessons about information and communication technologies in relevant professions in order to build the students’ ability to use those applications.

She said that could help them get a picture of what is going on in the profession outside the campus, such as in companies and various institutions.

“It is not the job of the government through TCU to change the way of presenting knowledge to students. Lecturers should be busy and strive to convey the best to our students for a brighter future for them and a good reputation for colleges and university teachers. We should do it now, because we are already late,” she said.