UDSM grapples with cash woes amid uproar over graduate skills

Dar es Salaam. The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) has acknowledged that budget constraints are a significant barrier to providing the practical training necessary for students to graduate with the skills needed in today’s job market.

These limitations have led to the unfortunate reality of producing graduates perceived as “half-baked,” a situation that has sparked concern among employers and policymakers alike.

This issue was brought to the fore yesterday when the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Culture and Sports visited UDSM as part of their inspection of projects under the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project.

The committee’s visit included stops at various ongoing projects in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, all aimed at strengthening Tanzania’s higher education system.

During their visit, committee members expressed their concerns about the quality of graduates from Tanzanian universities, with many employers reporting that graduates lack the skills needed to excel in their fields.

“The employment situation is not satisfactory,” said the committee’s vice chairperson, Mr Mussa Sima. “We hear many complaints from the job market about the quality of graduates and universities, including UDSM, have been heavily criticised.”

As such, the university’s administration pointed to its heavy reliance on student fees, which have not increased in over 15 years, despite inflation and the rising costs of education.

This financial strain has been making it difficult to effectively implement the hands-on training that stakeholders say is crucial for preparing students for the workforce.

“Practical training is essential for building our graduates’ capacity, but we face serious budget constraints,” said UDSM’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Planning, Finance and Administration, Prof Bernadetha Killian.

“We rely on student fees for 78 percent of the university’s operations and these fees have remained unchanged for the past 15 years. The government has kept them low to ensure that more students can afford higher education.”

However, she shared some hopes mentioning they will always be in discussions with the government about the possibility of revising tuition fees but stressed that the university was also exploring other ways to enhance education quality.

Through the HEET project, “we have completed a comprehensive review of our curricula based on feedback from 8,000 graduates and 4,000 employers across the country,” Prof Kilian said. “This feedback has been crucial in identifying areas for improvement.”

She added that the university has revised 96 curricula, which have been reviewed by the Ministry of Education and are now in the final stages of approval by the university’s Senate before being submitted to the Commission for Universities for accreditation.

UDSM is one of the institutions benefiting from the $425 million (approximately Sh972 billion) HEET project, funded by the World Bank through the Tanzanian government.

The project, which spans from 2021 to 2026, aims to enhance the learning environment and curricula at higher education institutions to better align with job market demands. UDSM has been allocated $47.5 million to implement this project and improve its service delivery.

As part of this initiative, UDSM plans to construct new facilities, including classrooms, laboratories, workshops and dormitories, at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (Mlimani) campus and the Institute of Marine Sciences in Zanzibar.

The university also plans to establish new campuses in Lindi and Kagera regions. Construction contracts for all these sites, except Kagera, were signed in February 2024, with completion expected by August 2025. The Kagera campus contract was signed in May 2024, with construction set to finish by November 2025.

The HEET project is seen as a critical component in addressing the challenges facing higher education in Tanzania. The Parliamentary Standing Committee chairperson, Ms Husna Sekiboko, emphasised the importance of research in informing policy decisions.

“Educational institutions must seek solutions through research,” she said.

“We need the assessments you have conducted regarding challenges in our education system to reach us so that we can work together in finding solutions.”

The ongoing projects at UDSM and other institutions are a step in the right direction, but the challenges are significant.