Tanzania moves to provide 10,000 graduates with workplace internship opportunities annually
DODOMA: THE Tanzanian government has introduced a plan to provide 10,000 university and college graduates with workplace internship opportunities annually as part of efforts to expand youth employment opportunities and prepare them for labour market demands.
The initiative is being implemented through the National Graduate Internship Programme, coordinated by the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations), with the aim of equipping young people with practical skills to compete in the domestic and international labour markets.
Responding to a question by Mwanakwerekwe MP, Kassim Hassan Haji, who wanted to know the government’s plans to help young graduates access practical training opportunities to gain work experience, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations), Dr Evaline Munisi, said the government had been implementing the programme since the 2017/18 financial year.
She said the government had developed the 2017 National Guidelines for Graduate Practical Training to provide a clear framework for stakeholders involved in the programme across both the public and private sectors.
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Dr Munisi said that from the programme’s launch in the 2017/18 financial year to September 2026, a total of 34,549 graduates had secured internship opportunities through collaboration between the government and various stakeholders.
Of these, 11,263 graduates had secured employment after completing their internships, while another 5,116 had used the skills acquired to establish self-employment ventures.
She further said the government had developed the National Graduate Internship Plan for 2026/27 to 2030/31, which seeks to increase the number of young people benefiting from the programme to 10,000 graduates annually.
Dr Munisi explained that the plan also aims to bridge the gap between skills acquired in education and training institutions and the actual requirements of employers in the labour market, thereby improving graduates’ prospects of securing employment or becoming self-employed.
