MoCU to address unemployment through new programmes

THE management of the Moshi-based Moshi Cooperative University (MoCU) in the Kilimanjaro Region has started the process aimed at preparing 11 new academic programmes including the one that will enable graduates of the college to create employment for their fellow graduates.

The move will help, among other things, to deal with the challenge of the lack of employment for graduates from the university and other higher learning institutions every year.

This was stated by the MoCU Vice Chancellor Prof Alfred Sife during the launching of the University’s Tracer Study and Needs Assessment Data collection which according to him, the launching was part of that process.

“MoCU is in the process of reviewing and preparing new curricula that will reflect social and economic needs, this exercise is been conducted through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation project (HEET Project),” he said.

He added, “We will gather opinions for the review of 15 existing programmes and the preparation of 11 new programmes; the curricula that will be given priority during the processes are those of Bachelor’s Degrees and Masters Degrees”.

Prof Sife continued to say that, the step of revisiting the existing curricula and adopting new curricula is important in the period when the employment market has changed in the sense of having new needs for skills and knowledge.

“There is also an interaction of employment for different countries due to globalisation, the number of graduates is increasing every year compared to the potential employment opportunities produced by various sectors,” he said.

For his part, MoCU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration and Finance) Prof Fred Kilima said that the improvement of the curricula was important because the country was in the period known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution led by the large use of Information Technology, thus requiring the production of skilled graduates who will be able to cope with those reforms.

“The curricula that will be improved and the new ones that will be introduced will help to increase the number of graduates who will have the ability to see opportunities, be employed, be self-employed and create jobs for others,” he said.

Earlier, MoCU Deputy ViceChancellor (Academic, Research and Consultancy) Prof John Safari, said the Tracer Study will involve different stakeholders in the community.

“Since we aim to create curricula that focus on employment issues for the development of the Nation, the Tracer Study will involve different types of stakeholders, who will include MoCU Alumni who graduated from university 10 years ago, employers who will are the potential job providers for our graduates, future MoCU students and members of the cooperative sector because the cooperative movement is the basic our institution’s establishment,” he said.