Mzumbe launches programme for locals to manage big projects

 Mzumbe university Vice-Chancellor, Prof Joseph Kuzilwa.

MZUMBE University, in collaboration with a Brazilian-based institute, ISAE, has inaugurated a new academic programme that seeks to empower Tanzanians to efficiently manage big projects in the country.
 
The course, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative, seeks to help Tanzanians manage huge projects starting in the country, especially now that the economy is booming.
 
The varsity’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Joseph Kuzilwa, said when inaugurating the course in Dar es Salaam
yesterday that it was the first course of its kind in the country.
 
“Our economy is now growing fast and there are huge international projects starting here…we want to train
Tanzanians so they can manage them and become participants and not mere observers in the process,” he said.

He identified eligible students as people dealing with such projects from government agencies, ministries,
companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the rest of Tanzanians interested in acquiring such
knowledge.
 
He said students will acquire quality knowledge that will empower them manage international projects by the two organisations and that Mzumbe would be monitoring their performance at their workplace afterwards.
 
He noted that the course was very crucial in the country and the region at large because it will make the
beneficiaries be at par with foreign experts in terms of knowledge when managing huge projects.
 
“They will be able to plan big international projects, enter into agreements, procure and better manage them,” he said, adding that this was one of the secrets that made Brazil what it was today in terms of development.
 
He explained that the course will help Tanzanians better manage projects dealing with gas, oil and minerals in the country. There are already some students who have started acquiring the knowledge offered at Mzumbe
University’s Dar es Salaam campus.
 
For his part, Prof Wanderlei Marinho da Silva from ISAE said he was happy for the educational collaboration with Mzumbe University in offering the course.
 
“Brazil has managed to be where it is today because of managing its projects well,” he said. He said they were ready to make sure that their collaboration became a success for the good of the country. Mzumbe has promised to come up with more courses that will meet the demand of the country.

CBE tied up with University of Eastern Finland for PhDs

The College of Business Education (CBE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Eastern Finland to assist its lecturers acquire philosophical degrees (PhDs) to enable them supervise masters degrees at the college.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday in Dar es Salaam, CBE rector Prof Emanuel Mjema said that they planned to start offering masters degrees but lacked qualified lecturers to run the programme.

He said the signing of the MoU will help them have sufficient PhD lecturers to run the post graduate courses.

Prof Mjema also said that five lecturers will commence PhD studies in September, this year to be supervised by a professor from the University of Eastern Finland.
 
He said the college has 90 staff who will have to study for PhDs to enable them supervise masters degrees. Ten lecturers are currently studying for PhDs in different colleges in and outside the country.

“We have projected that after four years we will have more PhD lecturers in our college. our aim now is to provide quality education that will assist our students to compete in the labour market,” he said

He pointed out that apart from signing the MoU with the University of Eastern Finland, the CBE has also joined hands with University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa to exchange research methodologies and training in business administration.

As we sat to seek answers to the question of how we can make sure CBE’s academic production process is not flawed, there is no cheating in examinations, lecturers are not getting into lecture rooms to talk cheap and street politics and more importantly have a mechanism where we can be able to get a true picture of our students and lecturers conduct, then we came up with the idea of installing cameras in all lecture rooms,” noted the Rector.

The project involves 20 Security Cameras, which have been installed at CBE Main Campus, 13 of which were installed in normal lecture rooms, five in the Computer Lab and two in the Library. 

Through the Security Control room, the office of Rector and the Deputy Rector responsible for Academics, Research and Consultancy (ARC) will be able to view what is happening in all the installed lecture rooms, Computer labs and Library at a time.

According to the Rector, the Camera installation drive which includes supply of Security Cameras, DVR, Dimensional keyboard and High Resolution LCD Monitor 22 has spent a total cost of TZS 66,300,000/=. 
 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Ten UDSM students clinch geology scholarships

TEN University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) students 

have come out on top for geology scholarships that 

were offered by Swala Oil and Gas Tanzania Limited 

after fierce competition for the slots.

According  to  a  statement  issued  by  the 

 company,   there  were  many  applicants  for  the 

  scholarships.  "We  are delighted that these ten 

students have been accepted for our scholarship

 programme. We had many applicants and the

 successful ones stood out, not just because of their 

vision and plans, but also due to their scores in 

 relevant subjects," Swala Chief Executive Officer, Mr

 David Ridge, said.

Mr Ridge said his company looked forward to work 

with the students during their geology course. The 

winning students are Joel Haule, Robert Kisimbo, 

Andrew Maronga, Denis Muhoka, Rafael Ngole

, Levina Pangani, Lucy Pangani, Emmanuel Rajabu, 

Anita Ringia and John Sospeter.

The head of the Geology department at the University

 of Dar es Salaam, Dr Shukrani Manya, commended 

Swala for offering the  10 undergraduate students 

pursuing a Bachelor of Science programme in

 Geology a fully paid sponsorship.

“Not only does the offer enable the students to

 pursue their studies with assured funding support, 

but it also helps in building the much-needed 

capacity, especially for the oil and gas sub-sector 

which is in its infancy in Tanzania," he said.

Dr Manya explained that the spin-off impact from this 

programme will enhance collaboration between

 Tanzanian local universities and the private mining 

sector. Furthermore, the students who won the

 scholarship are expected to serve the nation as well

 as being trained and qualified human resource in

 the booming mining industry in the country.

To be considered for the scholarship, students were 

required to have been accepted at the University of

 Dar es Salaam for the geology course, have

 outstanding academic results and apply for the grant

 through a website.

According to the East Africa Gas - Potential for Export

 report published by the Oxform Institute for energy

 studies, it was truly remarkable how East Africa and

 specifically Mozambique and Tanzania, have in a

 short space of time become the focus of attention as 

a source of new global gas supply.

The report said that five years ago, the two countries

 would not have appeared on a list of potential

 suppliers of large volumes of gas and Liquefied

 natural gas (LNG). "What has particularly captured

 the industry’s attention is the size of the ‘reserves per

 well’ being reported.

In Tanzania the 8 successful wells to date have been

 found to have 18 Tcf (i.e. 2 Tcf/well), while in

 Mozambique the 12 successful wells have been 

found with 85 Tcf, which equates to an astonishing 7

 Tcf/well3," the report read in part.

The report said that a fundamental question being

 asked by many observers is why the gas prospects of

 this region have only come to the attention of the gas

 world in the past few years.

Swala is an affiliated company of Swala Energy

 Limited, a company listed on the Australian Stock

 Exchange with ticker  ‘SWE’. Swala’s holdings are in

 the world-class East African Rift System with a total

 net land package in excess of 17,500km2.

New discoveries have been announced in a number 

of licences along this trend, including Ngamia and 

Twigga, which extend the multibillion barrel Albert

 Graben play so successfully developed by Tullow Oil

 into the eastern arm of the rift.

‘Desk for every child’ project gets 80m/- boost

 Bank M Chairman, Nimrod Mkono

BANK M has offered 80m/- to support Hassan Maajar Trust’s (HMT) project to provide desks to public schools countrywide. 

Launched in December 2011 in partnership with Bank M, HMT’s ‘Desk for every child’ campaign has provided over 4,000 desks for over 12,000 children in the country.

 Speaking at the signing of the 80m/- deal in Dar es Salaam yesterday, HMT Chairperson Amb. Mwanaidi Maajar appreciated the bank’s generous support, saying the trust managed to provide desks to over 12,000 children in the project’s first year. 

“We are determined to ensure that no child has to study while sitting on the floor,” vowed Ambassador Maajar, noting that with the bank’s support, the trust will this year provide 5,000 desks for 15,000 children, particularly, in rural areas. 

Bank M Chairman, Nimrod Mkono, said his bank was proud to work with HMT in such a noble cause, commending the trust for a job well done in the project’s first year.
 
“Having 12,000 children seated on desks in the first year of the project is an achievement we can all be proud of…this has really encouraged us to continue working with the Trust,” said Mr Mkono, noting that the bank was dedicated to support sustainable projects, with long lasting impact on the community.

“We all understand the magnitude of desk shortage in our public schools, which accommodate majority of our children. It is our collective duty to support the government to improve the learning environment and enhance the quality of education in public schools,” said Mr Mkono, who is also an MP for Musoma Rural.

Other partners to the desk project include Africa Barrick Gold through its ABG Maendeleo Fund, National Housing Corporation and Millicom Tanzania’s Tigo Tuchange

Notice to Candidates who sat for RPL Examinations

1. RPL Examination Results

Tanzania  Commission  for  Universities   (TCU)  hereby  informs  all

candidates who registered and sat for the RPL examination that they can now view their RPL examination results on TCU website and also in their profiles by login using their username and passwords.

2. Successful Candidates

All candidates who passed their RPL examination will start to lodge their application for admission into various Universities through the Central Admission System on Monday 22nd July 2013. Note that only those who passed are eligible for applying for admission and selection will be on merit and availability of positions in a relevant programme.

3. How to apply

i)         Open TCU website (http://www.tcu.go.tz)

ii)        Click Central Admission System to open the system.

iii)       Fill your Username and Password to login in your profile eg.

Username: RPL/2013/1111 and Password: The one you created

during registration for examination.

iv)       Click Application button (application form will open).

v)        Fill the programmes by writing programme codes available

on TCU website.

vi)      Applicants will be required to choose 3-5 programme choices

with maximum of two programme choices from one institution. vii)   All applicants are advised to follow the stages for application
            carefully to avoid any inconveniences.

4.0 A list of Programmes.

i)          RPL candidates will be required to choose  3-5 Programme

choices which must be relevant to the discipline in which the RPL examination was done.

ii)        The   programmes   have   been   arranged   according   to

clusters/disciplines   and   are   found   on   TCU   website
(http://www.tcu.go.tz).

iii)       Applicants will be required to choose their programme choices

(3-5programmes) from one relevant cluster/discipline only.

5.0   Deadline for application

The deadline for applications will be 4th August 2013.

Issued by:

Executive Secretary
TCU

17th July 2013

Form 4s head overseas in search of varsity degrees

Minister of education and Vocational training,Dr Shukuru Kawambwa  

Dar es Salaam. Form Four leavers who failed to make the grade in last year’s controversial exams are heading to overseas colleges en masse after being locked out of local public and private high schools.

The unprecedented poor performance in last year’s Fourth Form results have left unfilled 10,000 Form Five slots in public high schools. Some private high schools have reportedly closed shop for lack of students. 

Only candidates scoring Division I to III can move on to Form Five and those at Division IV get a chance to resit the exams.

Instead of choosing the second option, though, most parents have opted for colleges outside the country that enrol students without too many hurdles in their way. This is a sign that the middle class is growing, according to experts.

A Citizen survey established that many Form Four leavers are rushing to apply for university places abroad as a shortcut to realising their dreams, particularly those who are keen on science courses such as medicine.

Mr Abdulmalik Mollel, Managing Director of Global Education Link Ltd (GEL), said his agency was overwhelmed by the demand for overseas universities. “We had to close down for about two days last week so we could get time to work on the many applications we received,” he said.

His agency netted a total of 2,000 applications from the Class of 2012 wishing to study at universities abroad and 300 of them have already confirmed their places. Of that group, over 150 had been disqualified in the local education system.

Students who fail the “O” levels prefer overseas education, where they take a one-year foundation course and move on to degree courses. The Executive Secretary for Tanzania Commission for Universities, Prof Sifuni Mchome, confirmed that they were aware of the situation. “We recognise many universities of such kind,” he added, “and the commission recognises graduates from Tanzania who pass through such a system.”

In these circumstances, the foundation course is regarded as equivalent to advanced level in the local education system. “This overseas system allows students who want to pursue science subjects, such as medicine, to take a shortcut to realising their dreams,” Mr Mollel said.

Some of the universities that GEL partners with are located in Canada, America and United Kingdom. In Tanzania, though, those who want to study medicine but fail to join Form Five have to spend four years training at the clinical officer level and also practice for sometime before applying for a degree in medicine. 

According to Mr Mollel, the local education system tends to discourage students who fail from trying to achieve their dreams. 

“We lose many potential scientists, though the country is in dire need of more science experts,” he added, “only because we lack a system to develop these disqualified students to advanced level.” 

Mr Dismass Lyassa of Global Source Watch, an agency that recruits students for overseas education, noted that this year there was a rise in number of Form Four graduates applying for college opportunities abroad. His agency served about 49 students in a month this year.

A total of 397,138 sat the examinations and 124,260 students (43.08 per cent) scored Division IV this year.

Some 35,349 (9.55 per cent) scored Division I to III, of whom 10,924 were girls and 24,425 boys.

Private high schools also face tough times. The Tanzania Association of Managers and Owners of Non-Government Schools and Colleges said many private high schools may close down. 

According to the chairman, Mr Mahmoud Mringo, some 10 to 15 schools could close down in Dar es Salaam alone and the number is likely to be much higher countrywide.

Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Philipo Mulugo announced recently that poor performance in the 2012 fourth form examinations has created a shortfall of about 10,000 students to fill Form Five places in public schools.

 Only 33,683 candidates qualified to join Form Five against the available 43,757 places.