Moshi Cooperative University (MoCU) in Kilimanjaro will receive some 8.0 million US dollars (18.64bn/-) for expanding and improving the teaching infrastructure at the college.
The fund from the World Bank’s Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) initiative seeks, among other things, to ensure graduates are labour market relevant and the college established the Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) to reach its target.
MoCU’s HEET Project Assistant Coordinator, Dr Gervas Machimu, said that IAC has been established at the college and expects to increase various fields in education including improving the teaching infrastructure in general and the fund will facilitate the project implementation.
“The reviewed and new curricula will be designed to provide education to students who will be admitted at the university that will enable them to have skills which will help them get employed immediately as well as be able to be subject to self-employed”, he added.
Through HEET MoCU will build a hostel in its Shinyanga campus to almost double the capacity to accommodate 1,154 students and in Moshi an academic complex with the capacity of hosting 1,810 persons at a go.
The HEET fund will also go to renovate the old university’s buildings to meet the needs of the project while enabling to improve the teaching infrastructure by introducing the modern technology system that will enable students in Shinyanga to learn at the same time with their colleagues in Moshi.
Dr Machimu further said the university will also review its 15 existing curricula and introduce 11 new ones so that they could meet the current needs of the employment market.
Through the project, MoCU has already improved its library where students can now get different educational publications as well as being able to communicate with other higher learning institutions inside and outside the country.
Speaking during the occasion, the retired Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Mr Ludovick Utouh commended MoCU for introducing IAC at the institution saying was a significant milestone in solving employment challenges facing many graduates every year.
The introduction of IAC also compliments the government’s ongoing education reforms in the country, which he said will in the future produce graduates who will have the skills which will make graduates among other benefits able to be self-employed.
The MoCU HEET project Coordinator, Prof Fredy Kilima, said that IAC will work closely with the leadership of the university under the World Bank through the HEET initiative for the good future of the nation and its people.
“IAC will work together with MoCU by linking the university with the industry who are the potential future employers of graduates; the two will work together in among other activities, discuss on types of curriculum which reflect the needs of the employment market in general”, he said.