Russia leads as 260 Tanzanians secure foreign scholarships
DODOMA: A total of 260 Tanzanian students have received scholarships to pursue various courses abroad, with Russia leading other donor countries by providing 150 opportunities.
This was revealed in Dodoma today (May 7, 2026) when the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Adolf Mkenda, tabled his Ministry’s 2026/27 budget estimates in the National Assembly.
He informed the august House in the capital that the government’s efforts to strengthen cooperation between local and international universities had resulted in Russia offering 150 scholarships to Tanzanian students, followed by China (49), Hungary (21), the Commonwealth (11) and Egypt (10).
He mentioned other countries and institutions as Algeria (8), Morocco (4), Mauritius (4), South Korea (2), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (1).
“In addition, the Government has continued to provide scholarships to 15 students from China studying Kiswahili at the University of Dar es Salaam,” the Minister explained.
Apart from that, Prof Mkenda said that in the outgoing financial year, the Government had continued to provide scholarships to 936 first-year students and 85 continuing students through the SAMIA Scholarship programme.
Under the arrangement, he added, four students have been sponsored to pursue Master’s degrees at top universities worldwide in the fields of Nuclear Medicine (1), Medical Physics (2), and Nuclear Engineering/Power Plants and Research Reactors (1) through the SAMIA Scholarship Extended (Nuclear Science) programme.
He said the Government had continued to improve teaching and learning environments in higher education institutions through the construction and rehabilitation of various infrastructure facilities, including the ongoing construction of 130 new buildings comprising classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls, offices and dormitories.
Other projects include the construction of research centres in 47 locations across 20 institutions implementing the Higher Education for Economic Transformation project.
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Five new buildings have been completed, while construction of the remaining buildings has reached an average of 57.6 percent completion.
Furthermore, 18 teaching and learning infrastructure facilities have been rehabilitated, and modern equipment has been installed in 36 buildings.
Once completed, he noted, these campuses will provide skills training aimed at preparing graduates with competencies required in both domestic and international labour markets.
To ensure that the education provided meets established guidelines and labour market demands, the Government has continued to supervise and regulate the quality of education offered by universities and higher learning institutions by accrediting 233 out of 461 programmes that were evaluated.
These include seven ordinary diploma programmes, 193 bachelor’s degree programmes, 23 master’s degree programmes, and 10 doctoral degree programmes.
Prof Mkenda stated that the Government has also continued to support lecturers and staff in universities and higher learning institutions by providing long-term training to 1,179 staff members at various levels (3 certificate, 12 diploma, 37 bachelor’s degree, 422 master’s degree, and 703 doctoral degree programmes), as well as short-term training to 1,289 staff members from higher learning institutions.
