Stakeholders call for introduction of leather processing courses in varsities
DEVELOPMENT stakeholders have called on the introduction of leather processing courses in Tanzanian Universities, to make the livestock sector more productive.
The degree and master courses provide a broad digital scope of learning, including especially the use of computer software, to ease the production, hence, availing quality leather goods in the markets.
This was said by Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) Mwanza Campus staff, who underwent skill exchange programmes to an Ethiopian Technical University (ETU) last month.
One of the staff, Mr Bakari Hamis told the ‘Daily News’ that computer software, mostly Computer-Aided Design (CAD) make the production easy as they are for designing, giving sketches with exactly measures of the prospective leather goods, be it footwear, garment or handbags.
CAD is technology for design and technical documentation, which replaces manual drafting with an automated process.
He said CAD sends the sketches to plotter cutter machine, for patterns print outs, to let a technician goes only for final works. “That is what our fellows do in Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, skin processing courses in Tanzania end at diploma level,” said Mr Hamis. He said scaling up professionalism will at the same time trigger an increase and stability of the competing leather industries in the country to make the sector more productive.
“Advanced skill processing technology also fights unemployment as it attracts self-employments. I’m personally in need of the course to broaden my current diploma education, but in vain, unless I get sponsorship for studies abroad,” he said.
ETU lecturers, who are currently at DIT for skill exchange programmes, also called for the need to introduce leather processing courses in the country, to assure the availability of quality and quantity leather goods in markets.
They also called on continuous exchange programmes between the two institutions, to let the DIT staff and students keep on sharpening knowledge at ETU, “For instance, we have gained balls’ knitting skills here.
Again, due to lack of water bodies in Ethiopia to accommodate aquatic creatures, we do expect to have the knowledge on fish and crocodile skin processing before we leave Tanzania,” said ETU lecturer, Mr Selamu Haile.
