JOSIAH KIBIRA UNIVERSITY

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By ABDULWAKIL SAIBOKO, 13th March 2010 @
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292PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete led hundreds of well-wishers to raise 706.5m/- for the construction of a university in Kagera Region challenging universities in the country to invest in science programmes. The charity dinner for the construction of proposed Josiah Kibira University College (JoKUCo) of Tumaini University was held in Dar es Salaam on last night. “I am glad to hear that the college will prioritise science in education courses. This will increase teachers in the field which is facing an acute shortage,” he said. Mr Kikwete noted that the problem of science teachers was shared by both developed and developing countries but admitted that the country’s situation was worse than others in Africa. “Our children do not like science subjects and statistics show that less than 30 per cent of students at secondary level prefer studying science. The percentage is too small compared to other countries in the continent,” he said. President Kikwete noted that following his talks with the former United States president, George W. Bush and later with the incumbent, Barack Obama, the government was expecting to receive many science teachers from US this year than ever before. “The problem of science teachers cannot be solved through such programmes, we need to train our own science teachers,” he said, adding that the government would employ all the teachers graduating in the country. He commended the TU management for fast growth despite being the youngest university. “The move is commendable, we have 22 private universities in the country so far and when this starts we shall have 23. It is also important to note here that it will be the first in Kagera Region,” he said. President Kikwete promised continuous support to the universities in the country saying that he felt very pleased and honoured to be invited in such events. Earlier, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Prof. Jumanne Maghembe said Tumaini University was now the giant university in the country with six associate universities and JoKUCo becoming the seventh. “In 2005 we had 55,500 university students, the number has increased to 105,000 this year out of which Tumaini Univesity alone has 8,500,” he said. Prof. Maghembe said the government was moving hand in hand with the private sector and that with its newly established University of Dodoma (UDOM) it has admitted over 17,000 students and that the number is expected to rise to 25,000 next academic year. The TU’s Chancellor, Bishop Alex Malasusa said the university was committed to offer not only degrees but quality ones. “We train them to be honest and God fearing and we believe that they can be good workers. We want to produce a hot cake product in the labour market,” he said. He said that the JoKUCo would be operating on the premises of Bukoba Lutheran Teacher’s College that was established in July 2007 and is expected to start in October, this year. The budgetary requirements to enable the university take off are projected at 1.3bn/-.