Special needs female students get boost
THE Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) has kicked off the implementation of a mega project for the construction of a state-of-the art special dormitory for women students with special needs and those with babies in efforts to bring education revolution and research amongst women in the country.
Speaking on Thursday in Dodoma, the Institute’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Emmanuel Luoga said his institution had spent 1.7bn/- in the implementation of the project which kicked off earlier this month.
“The project will be implemented in three phases, with the first phase expected to accommodate 180 students, costing 4.8bn/- and this phase, which is now at 43per cent, is expected to be completed in June 2023,” he noted.
Prof Luoga, who was outlining key priorities to be implemented by his institution in this financial year (2022/23), said further that (NM-AIST) was equally expecting to acquire a concessional loan from the World Bank (WB) totaling US Dollars 10 million (over 23bn/-) which would be spent in improving infrastructure at the institute in efforts to get accreditation of its scientific lab to meet all requisite international standards.
“If we manage to get accredited, our lab upon completion will help our products to win international markets anywhere in the world,’’ he noted, adding that the institution was targeting to improve e-learning in efforts to ensure that even students who were far from campus were trained comfortably.
According to him, during the 2022/23 financial year, the government had allocated about 43bn/- to help the institute discharge its duties.
The Arusha-based NM-AIST is among the institutes that provide education in matters of science, technology and innovation and, in African continent, there are only three institutes providing similar education.
Others are in Nigeria and Burkina Faso respectively. It was expected that another institute was expected to be established in South Africa or Zimbabwe.
However, as of today, they are yet to be introduced. The institute started admitting students in 2011 and it only enrolls students for masters and PhD programmes. It concentrates on research and teaching.
According to Prof Luoga, so far, the institute has managed to conduct 73 different researches which were a result of close collaboration between lecturers, students, the government through the Tanzania Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH) and other Development Partners (DPs) from outside the country.
Speaking at the event, the Director of Information Services, Gerson Msigwa said that the government was well determined to invest in research for the country’s economic development.
Mr Msigwa, who doubles as the Chief Government Spokesperson added: “There could be no economic revolution without investing in research, therefore we want to capitalise on science as one of the pillars that will take us to the next level.’’
