Prime Minister graces the inaugural event of the newly promoted Catholic University of Mbeya

Mbeya. A new era has dawned at one of the oldest higher education institutions, the Catholic University of Mbeya (CUoM) – after being upgraded to a fully-fledged university.

The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) upgraded the CUoM that also got the unanimous consent of the plenary of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), who are the owner of the facility.

It was upgraded on 26 October, 2023 with an immediate effect on January 1, 2024.

The announcement of such a historic shift was made by Tanzania Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, who graced the ceremonial event as the Chief Guest, among other senior invitees.

The current defunct Catholic University College of Mbeya (CUCoM) (now changed to Catholic University of Mbeya (CUoM)) is a chip off the old block, St. Augustine University of Tanzania (Saut) – Mwanza, that previously operated as Saut Constituent College of Mbeya. It was established in 2013.

In a statement issued by the University’s management in front of the PM and Vice Chancellor, noted that TCU did a transect walk to inspect whether the university qualifies to operate as a complete entity and it turned out that the institution ticked all boxes.

Post-transition era

10,167 students pursuing different programs ranging from postgraduate diploma in education, degrees, diplomas and certificates have been admitted since its recent transformation compared to the 339 students who were admitted before.

The university has 177 staff, among them, 131 are academicians and 46 are non-professionals. There are also five professors, 21 PhD doctors, 81 assistant lecturers and 25 tutors.

Programs

When the University started operations, only two courses were offered; Bachelor Degrees in Education and Business Management. Another auxiliary course is the Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

In this academic year 2023/24, the University is offering six degrees, namely Bachelor of Arts in Education, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts in Planning and Community Development Projects and a short-term program to serve the needy folks around the compound.

Other courses are Bachelor of Accounting and Finance, Bachelor of Human Resources, Bachelor of Law, Diploma and Certificates in the fields of Information and Communication Technology (IT), Business Management, Accounting, Supply, Procurement, Community Development, Library and Records Management.

University mission

Any University is vested with offering knowledge, conducting research and public services, and the CUoM has set continuous plans to expand the scope of the implementation of its scholarly projects based on the quality and use of modern technologies to support the Government in contributing to the world’s knowledge.

Success

Along with the sharp rise in the admission of students from year to year, the University has continued to hire talented lecturers with the proven qualifications to provide quality education in an alignment with the criteria set by the Government through TCU.

Over the past ten years since its establishment, the University has achieved big time. CUoM had a few buildings as per requirement including; one large lecture hall and five other halls, five academic discussion rooms and two computer labs.

Currently, the University has six spacious lecture halls with a capacity of accommodating 400 to 1050 students at a time, nine conventional halls with a capacity of 100 to 400 students, 15 academic discussion rooms, and modern laboratories with a computer each, and a large library capable of housing 1,000 students at a time.

The University also has a modern hostels for female students with the capacity to take up to 420 students at a time and various open spaces reserved for students to participate in sporting activities including; football pitches, basketball and netball courts at Nzovwe, Mbeya City.

Power woes

In response to the insurmountable power challenge, the University has two large emergency generators, one located at the University headquarters and the other found at New Forest. This is done to ensure a smooth and effective execution of academic duties and enable students to study at all times and safely.

Investment

The campus owns extensive land portions for current use and future expansion, with 148 acres in Nzovwe area, 11 acres (Ilemi), 8 acres (New Forest) and 4.2 acres (headquarters).

Graduation

In November 2023, the University celebrated its eighth anniversary since its incorporation and a total of 1,600 graduates were awarded postgraduate diplomas, degrees and certificates in various fields.

“We would like to use this opportunity to thank God, the Tanzania Episcopal Council (TEC) for establishing this University and transforming it to becoming a fully-fledged University," said the Vice Chancellor.

The Government’s statement

Speaking after the inaugural event, the PM said the Government recognizes the great contribution of the University while promising freshers, continuing students and lecturers an affluent opportunity to access higher education loans in case they look to pursue further studies.

“The sitting Government recognizes the great contribution of the Catholic Church and the TEC, and in the fiscal year 2023/24 alone, the President Samia's regime has allocated more than Sh48 billion for loans to University students, including private ones," the PM said.

Apart from loans, he said the Government will also continue to cooperate with different players to ensure that the colleges and universities are improved in order to offer best self-employment education for young people, if there are Information and Communication Technology (IT) courses in the country.

"I’m directing all universities in the country to start and improve the IT curriculum that will become a springboard for young people to get employed when they graduate to keep pace with the challenges of the labour market," he explained.

He said, the Government is quite aware of the private sector investment in tertiary education, so it will continue to support them in the whole course of building an enabling education environment.

In another development, Minister Majaliwa stated that more than Sh6.7 billion from President Samia Suluhu Hassan's Trust Fund will be splashed to benefit higher education students. This is to implement the election manifesto and create an enabling environment in the education sector in parallel with improving curricula.

For his part, Mbeya Regional Commissioner Juma Homera congratulated the Government, through TCU, on upgrading the status of CUoM, a deliberate effort that put the city in the spotlight while noting that the Government has disbursed loans to the tune of Sh9.8 billion to 7,000 students in that University.

For his part, the CUoM Chancellor, President of TEC and Bishop of the Catholic Cathedral, Mbeya Province, Gervas Nyaisonga, said they aspire to cooperate with the Government on a long term basis so that the University education becomes a significant tool of liberating young people.

Nyaisonga added that investment and infrastructure improvements have been prioritized these days unlike in the past.

The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Speaker of the Tanzania National Assembly, Dr Tulia Ackson, on her part, thanked the Government for seeing the importance of promoting the University to a higher status, and it is such a pride for Mbeya Region.

"Mr Prime Minister, as a representative of the people, I would like to congratulate you personally, on your participation in the inaugural ceremony of the CUoM which was previously a Constituent College of St. Augustine Tanzania (Saut),” commented Dr Tulia.