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Preamble
We the participants, in the Tanzania Higher Education Summit on Enhancing the Contribution of Higher Education in the Industrialization Process of Tanzania, gathered in Dar es Salaam on 21st -22nd November, 2016 confirm our commitment to the objective of developing strategies that will enable the Tanzania Higher Education Sub-sector to produce competent graduates and research outputs which will significantly contribute to the process of industrialization in Tanzania.
Organizers of the Summit
The summit was organized by: The Committee of Vice Chancellors, Principals, and Provosts of Tanzania (CVCPT), the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOET) and the Trust Africa.
Objectives of the Summit
The aim of the summit is to develop strategies that will enable the Tanzania Higher Education Sub-Sector to produce competent graduates and research outputs which will significantly contribute to the process of industrialization in Tanzania. Specific Objectives include:
i) To highlight the role of higher education in the industrialization process of Tanzania.
ii) To propose strategies for higher education to be able to produce outputs that will catalyze the process of industrialization through identified key economic sectors.
iii) To propose effective funding and governance models of higher education institutions in Tanzania for accelerated industrialization.
Noting that:
The efforts, commitment and determination of the fifth phase of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to build an industry based economy and ensuring that Tanzania realizes its long-standing ambition of becoming a middle income country as stipulated in the Tanzania Vision 2015.
The recently published National Five-Year Development Plan 2016/17 to 2020/21 has prioritized Industrialization for Economic Transformation and Human Development for the next five years.
For the nation to effectively implement the identified objectives under the second Five Year Development Plan it will require to have competent human resource and credible research outputs from our higher education system.
Vision
We unanimously affirm that:
i) Human Capital is the necessary catalystand most important factor in achieving sustainable industrial development.
ii) There is a need to re-think the role of Higher Education Institutions to re-align their systems and take the drivers’ seat in the development of human capacities for the sustainable industrialization of Tanzania through academic and research as well as to promote innovation for industrialization and economic development.
Guiding Principles
We agreed to be guided by the following principles:
1. Provision of high quality and relevant higher education.
2. Promotion of research and innovation
3. Strengthening inter-sectoral linkages and value chains
4. Enhancement of meaningful academia-public-private engagement
5. Strengthening and diversifying sources of sustainable funding for higher education
Priority Areas
We unanimously agree to focus on the following as our priority areas:
1. Coordination of strategic planning at system level to define the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the industrialization of Tanzania.
2. Preparation of an implementation strategy for industrialization and articulation of the role of each institution.
3. Ensure quality and relevance in developing the requisite human capital for all sectors of the economy by:
i) Using the available data to map human resource and skills requirements for strategic industries needed for national development and develop training programmes to fill the gaps;
ii) Conducting tracer studies; and
iii) Benchmarking and review of curriculum after every 5 years through engagement with industry.
4. Improve research and training in all sectors by introducing internship and incubation programmes as an integral part of university research and training.
5. Diversify sources of funding to become financially sustainable