Mgamba suggests for intensive practicals for media trainers in Universities

AS the exhibitions organized by Commission of Tanzania Universities (TCU) in collaboration with higher learning institutions which started on Wednesday last week in Dar es Salaam, a media professional has thrown a challenge to academicians who are recruited for various academic posts in higher learning institutions in the country. Reflecting his views on Journalism and Mass communication professional categories, he is suggesting that preliminary newsroom practical training was vital to tutorial assistants who are being prepared to become future media trainers under this category at higher learning institutions. He has however, condemned the habit being practiced by most higher learning institutions of recruiting their best performing students who are good in theory and not in practical to become lecturers in future, an aspect that most of their candidates graduates with lower professional skills. The Managing Editor of a weekly tabloid 'the Guardian on Sunday' newspaper which is being published by Tanzania leading IPP Media company, Richard Mgamba has suggested that, before their recruitment such candidates should undergo formal media training immediately on completion of their first degree programs before they are considered for masters and later become lecturers.

Mr. Richard Mgamba showing a left thumb up as a sign of his victory when he received his CNN award in 2008. In this way, according to him the knowledge acquired from newsroom would enable them to practice professional teaching career in the field of journalism and mass communication. They would also be in a position to built their talents and consequently become competent in teaching with enough practical experience they shall have acquired, he said. Mgamba who is a senior journalist with over 18 years work experience was addressing a group of newly recruited media professionals in his office at Mikocheni as part of a training program which he offered to them. He noted that most fresh graduates from higher learning institutions lacks practical skills when recruited into newsroom to practice journalism profession, an aspect that some editors take extra time to teach them writing news stories. “We recruited four graduates recently here but found had no enough skills when assigned to write stories ” he said while insisting that, the long standing problem must be originating right from their tutors or lecturers who fails to groom them to become qualified enough, he said. In order to rectify the situation, Mgamba is therefore asking the authorities from higher learning institutions who works in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission of Universities (TCU) to look at this matter critically otherwise such institutions will continue to produce graduates of lower qualities.