Recent years have seen an upsurge in numerous number of university graduates, most of whom lacking in key skills—communication, presentation, analytical, human relation and creativity. 

“Collaboration between the private sector and the business schools is inevitable if the dynamic business sector in the country has to be supplied with sufficient and competent people,” Mzumbe University’s lecturer, Dr Andrew Mbwambo said. 

Dr Mbwambo challenged the business schools that produce employees and employers to join hands towards finding a lasting solution, instead of pointing fingers to each other. “We all agree that there is a gap between what the labour market needs and what is available…it is high time we filled that gap.” 

The don said the country’s education system — from primary up to tertiary level — was to blame for the half cooked graduates coming out of universities, saying; “garbage in, garbage out.” He urged the business sector to invest heavily in the development of competent human capital in the country. 

The Dean of the University of Dar es Salaam’s Business School, Dr Marcellina Chijoriga, attributed resource constraints as among contributing factors to incompetent graduates from the schools. She said: “Balancing between quantity and quality is a serious challenge that we, at business schools, have to grapple with.” Lecturers at local universities were teaching classes of up to 1,200 students. She cited shortage of libraries and reference books as serious impediment to learning at university level in the country.

“In the process of teaching you want students to read widely and extensively but what do they read?” queried the don. English language, she said, is another serious problem that haunts Tanzanians. “If a lecturer demands students to consult in English that will amount to telling them to never consult” she said, noting that inept English skills translate into lack of confidence among many students. 

The Head of Human Resource at Akiba Commercial Bank (ACB), Mr David Lwiza, attributed the current wave fraud in the banking sector to poorly groomed graduates. He said: “They lack honesty, trustworthy, integrity and financial discipline.” 

Current graduates, he said, were nursing incredible expectations — thinking that they are already managers and dream to drive posh cars and living in self contained houses at up market locations soon after graduating. 

“They don’t want to work and learn the skills, get the gist of the industry and adapt to the business…they think a mere degree is a qualification to any job,” charged Mr Lwiza, citing a case in which a graduate in architecture applied for a position of bank’s branch manager. 

He said at ACB, technical skills account for hardly 20 per cent of the job requirements, with the soft skills — management and leadership skills, strategic thinking and planning, report writing, presentation skills, human resource management, business development and analysis, project planning as well as customer care and services — accounting for 80 per cent. 

He said internship programmes, research and development and establishment of career development centres were avenues through which the private sector and business schools could cooperate in order to develop competent human capital to serve the thriving private sector. 

The dialogue participants proposed for the schools and private sector to work together in order to expose students to extensive industrial training, with the views of sharpening their skills through some businesses. 

The private sector, however, has been accused of denying slots to students in internships. Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) had organised the one-day dialogue to avail the private sector, government and business schools with opportunity to deliberate on the critical issue of human capital in the country.

-From the July 29th, 2010 edition of the Tanzania Daily News

>>Read about GBSN's work in Tanzania