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Varsities told to contribute towards human capital development
2007-10-27 11:00:40
By David Mambo
Higher Learning Institutions have been challenged to be in the front line to contribute to human capital development for the national sustainable development.
Speaking in Dar es salaam during the 17th Open University of Tanzania (OUT) Annual general meeting and convocation yesterday, the Director of Poverty Eradication Division in the Ministry of Planning, Economy and Empowerment, Anna Masha said that, `intellectuals are not only forming part of the think tank of a country, but are also frontline soldiers in various community developments battles.`
Masha was representing the government at the convocation.
According to her, institutions have and should continue to play a central role in achieving national and international development initiative such as Tanzania development vision 2025, National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (Mkukuta) and Millennium Developing Goals (MDGs).
`Universities and equivalent institutions are capable of leading the way and achieving the development initiatives due to their long experience and expertise in all fields of research,` she added.
She said that institutions can promote appropriate technologies to be used in various production sectors by shaping public opinions and national policy priorities.
Commenting on the implementation of the MDGs in the country, Masha said that Tanzania, like any other country in the third world has attained achievements in some of MDGs although others have remained as challenges.
`In general, we are on track although in some of the indicators the achievement is low. There is a lot to be done so far,` she added.
Giving example, Masha said that relying on rain because of lack of adequate irrigation equipment is one of the big challenges hindering the government from combating hunger especially in the rural areas.
`Our country relies mostly on agriculture for many things—employment, and industries. What we need to do is to find a way to strengthen the respective sectors to attain MDGs and other government goals on time,` she added.
Masha commended the University for proving to have highest efficiency in availing opportunities to more people in accessing education using convectional approach as opposed to other learning institutions.
For his part, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tolly Mbwette, said OUT has a special mission to teach and train the increased numbers of interactions, enforcement of human capital development for national development, in order to steer the development process.
Prof. Tolly said that unlike other institutions in the country, OUT suffered from inadequate learning and teaching space, a challenge that he appealed to the government to consider.
OUT will today award degrees to more than 180 graduates in its 19th graduation ceremony in Dar es Salaam.
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