Tanzania faces shortage of engineers

THE Registrar of National Engineers Registration Board (ERB) Engineer Steven Mlote has said that, Tanzania is still faced with a large number of shortage of qualified engineers of every discipline in the country. He said last week in Dar es Salaam that, various engineering colleges and higher learning engineering institutions accredited in the country produces only 1,500 engineering graduates annually against the required number of 7,500 engineers from every disciplines who are required to be produced annually. He further noted that, currently statistics shows that the country faces the shortage of 44,000 engineers as at present there are only 11,000 registered engineers, while the actual demand is 55,000 engineers. He told journalists in a meeting as a Chairperson and a convener of the Sait Joseph University in Tanzania (SJUIT) when he met them during the occasion of launching the scholarship scheme and how the SJUIT has put down its strategies to help the needy people. He said SJUIT has offered full scholarships which will be introduced to students pursuing diploma programs, and this is in a bid to motivate youths pursuing different programs in engineering studies. He said the scholarship scheme will help to meet the demand of skilled workforce in the field of engineering.“In an effort to address the shortage of engineers and technicians in the country, SJUIT has introduced full scholarships to first three secondary students in every region who completed ordinary level (Form four examinations) with effect from last year, and were not lucy to be selected for Advanced secondary education, then were liable to apply for the scheme in order to enable them to pursue a diploma program at the university” he said. Additionally, other beneficiaries of this scholarship grant would be those students in every school who scored the top position and those would be offered partial tuition fee, while the institution will offer free accommodation facilities such as hostels to female students who will join the university in an effort to increase the number of female students taking science subjects. According to Engineer Mlote, diploma programs to be converted includes Civil Engineering, Mechanical engineering, Electrical engineering, Electronics engineering, Electronics and Communication engineering and computer science and engineering. Any student joining a diploma course can pursue a corresponding degree at a later stage by joining laterally in the second year of the program. The SJUIT Council President Dr. Thompson Ananth said during the occasion that, his university was committed to the development of youths in this nation and their efforts to promote science and technology in the country. He stressed that, the demand for skilled workforce was increasingly becoming crucial in the country taking into account that it is one of the fastest developing sectors in the country.