Higher education for self-reliance: the Tanzanian experience

Abstract

Incl. statistical data

Incl. bibl. p. 412-415

This case study explores the relationships between the employment of graduates and development of higher education in the United Republic of Tanzania. The authors outline the major issues related to the policy of education for self-reliance adopted by this country in the Arusha Declaration. The research gives due consideration to the socio-economic framework of Tanzania, in order to provide a basis for the directions higher education should take to make the country self-reliant. It looks at the implications of such a policy and discusses the quantitative matching between the output of the education system and the demand for skillsof the economy. Then it identifies the areas in which quantitative discrepancies are likely to develop, if corrective actions are not taken, as well as the knowledge gaps which must be filled for the adopted policy to be fully implemented.These gaps include attitudes, expectations and perceptions of the students, graduates and employers in respect of the system of higher education and the overall society.