Diploma engineering students to get full sponsorship

The government has announced that diploma students in civil and irrigation engineering at technical colleges will get 100 per cent loans from the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB).“We want to encourage more students to take civil and irrigation engineering courses. This sector needs more technical personnel. So, by giving them loans, we believe that more engineers will be produced and fill the existing gap,” Education and Vocational Training minister Dr Shukuru Kawambwa said recently when he visited Arusha Technical College (ATC). Other beneficiaries include students taking civil and irrigation engineering degree courses in different technical colleges across the country. Kawanda explained that the loans offered by HESLB would now cover ordinary diploma holders joining ATC, Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and Mbeya Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), as well as universities. He noted that the move was meant to encourage technical education and attract more professionals in science and engineering fields whose demand in the local market remained high. “We’ll make some adjustments so that ordinary diploma holders joining universities can assess loans just like other direct entrants,” he said, without mentioning when the new arrangement would start. He explained that although the loans were meant for direct entrants to universities, priority being given to science students, the move to extend loans to diploma holders in technical education was deliberate. According to ATC principal Richard Masika, until now such loans were only issued to direct entrants to universities and did not cover holders of diplomas from technical colleges. ATC, which was elevated to an autonomous training institution under the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training a few years ago, introduced a degree programme in civil and irrigation engineering last year. "We urge the government to provide HESLB loans to our students in civil and irrigation engineering because failure to do so means that we will continue losing these experts," he said when briefing the minister. He also promised that his ministry would ensure the construction of a laboratory building at ATC was completed on time. The building, which is to be completed next year, is for testing soil and water quality. Meanwhile, ATC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tanga Cement Company to help students be innovative in cement use. ATC Link coordinator Jaffar Mwanza said the MoU would enable the college to monitor the quality of cement produced in the country and the one imported by studying cement materials. According to the MoU, TCCL will be giving ATC two tonnes of cement quarterly for practical training.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN