Four universities in bid to create graduate data bases

EMPLOYMENT agencies now have their jobs cut out thanks to the announcement that Open University of Tanzania (OUT) has teamed up with three other universities in East Africa to create a database that will store lists of names of their graduates and their curricula vitae will be found.

The aim of the initiative, which is financed by the European Union (EU) at the cost of Euro 131, 000 (366 million/-), is to expose and market graduates to the labour market, including simplifying the task of searching suitable candidates for certain tasks to be hired by employers.

The other Universities involved in the programme are Makerere in Uganda, Maseno in Kenya, and Africa Virtual University (AVU).

Titled “Strategic partnership for the co-design of an innovative and scalable e-portfolio ecosystem to improve the quality and visibility of skills”, the initiative also aimed at dismissing the circulating rumour that most of Tanzanian universities have been producing empty-headed graduates.

OUT Deputy Vice Chancellor- Academic, Prof Deus Ngaruko clarified that:

“This portfolio will show the truth as graduates will keep on posting one’s practical activities to show their capabilities and competitive power in job markets.” It was in the stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday in Dar es Salaam (academicians and students) where Prof Ngaruko added that a three-year joint project (2018-2020) between Europe and Africa, was on pilot demonstration but has shown remarkable success, globally.

According to him, graduates have been insisted to embrace creativity and innovation spirit; going beyond what they have been learning in classes, for flexibility of working in any field and everywhere in the world. Some of the presented materials read that: Africa economies are growing and technological change is the engine of growth. To sustain growth however, Africans need new skills, education and knowledge to match the challenges and technology of tomorrow.

African students need the skills and capabilities employers will demand and markets will prize in future, according to the presented materials. The Varsity’s Director for Institute of Educational and Management Technologies, Dr Edephonce Nfuka insisted that, it is creativity which will make Tanzanian students to withstand competition in job market arena. He added that creativity comes easy when a person fully engages in practices, insisting that:

“Theory is just a matter of learning procedures but practice makes perfect.” Additionally, Dr Nfuka said, creativity was of importance with regard that the world has been rapidly changing following technological innovations.