STUDENTS and academicians in Zanzibar universities have been advised to change their mindsets by having required job skills and competences.
Minister for Infrastructure, Communication and Transport, Dr Khalid Salum Mohamed made statement on Tuesday.
“Just earning a good university degree is relatively no longer working in today’s competitive world,” Dr Mohamed stated.
“Tune yourself to this fast-growing world of competitiveness. Lecturers should act beyond the traditional way of teaching to prepare and produce graduates who fit in the market, and students should understand that having only a good certificate does not guarantee getting a job,” he stated.
He was speaking at the launching of the‘State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) Industrial Advisory Committee in implementation of the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project, being supported by the World Bank and implemented in 14 universities in the country.
According to HEET Project Coordinator at SUZA, Dr Ali Makame Ussi, it is a five-year project, in partnership with the Tanzanian Government and the World Bank venturing worth 425 million US dollars that aims to strengthen the learning environment and labor market alignment of priority programmes.
While doing so, it also enhance delivery of knowledge to produce graduates who meet the demand and standard of the current and future labor market, along with the construction and repair of infrastructure, improve curricula, purchase equipment, and facilitate staff training.
The minister said job competition seems to be manifesting itself in credential inflation, but the reality on the ground is that the value of academic credentials decreases over time, because employers need workers who can deliver.
“It is unfortunate, most graduates are lazy, not committed, have no zeal to learn, and their attitude to work is very poor. Zanzibaris have been complaining against recruiting workers from outside Zanzibar. They blame us, but the reality is young people at home are lazy; we need to change them,” Dr Mohamed he said.
He advised graduates and other young people who are job seekers to be committed, avoid laziness, build good relationships with others, have effective coordination and strive to bring impact at workplaces.
SUZA Vice Chancellor, Professor Mohamed Makame Haji said the HEET Project is important for development of the university and students.
“We have over 6,000 students and majority are women. We need to prepare them so that they are employable,” Prof Haji said.
Source : DailyNews
