Tougher conditions for Master’s, PhD scholars

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) has set tougher conditions for students pursuing Masters and PhD programmes, whereby they will have to publish their findings in a recognised journal for peer review as a condition for graduating.

The Commission’s 3rd Edition of Standards and Guidelines for University Education in Tanzania, 2019 now provides the new qualification criteria for postgraduate scholars.

“For instance, guidelines 4.13.7, 4.14.5 and 4.16.7…provide requirements of publications for post graduate students to qualify for an award of Master’s Degrees of PhD (both by coursework and Dissertation or Thesis),” reads part of the letter that was sent to university heads, by TCU.

The letter calls for all the universities to align their institutional Quality Assurance Guidelines accordingly, so as to take care of the new developments.

“The application of new standards and guidelines is effective from the date of approval…” it reads.

TCU executive secretary Prof Charles Kihampa said that although publication was not a new thing for postgraduate students in the country, but the latter’s qualification have not been determined by the international criteria.

“Normally, publications must be measured by international experts and qualify to be a public document. This is the standard globally. Now we want our universities to award their students by the quality of their publications,” he said.

The secretary confirmed to have sent a letter to all university heads notifying them on the new guidelines.

“They are the ones who approved the guidelines and we expect them to follow a quick response for the better quality of our students,” he said.

The move has been welcomed by experts in the academia, saying it will improve the credibility of local elite’s publications across the globe.

They said that the developments will also widen the scope of local publications globally and stand to solve the people’s problems in the society.

“That is good news for our country. It means a new dawn for the academia has come,” Prof Jonathan Simboja from the University of Dodoma (Udom) told The Citizen on a telephone interview yesterday.

“For us to compete internationally as far as quality assurance is concerned, we need to strengthen our publications,” he added.

Prof Simboja said that if TCU’s initiative is implemented accordingly, there will be a new trust to the country’s big number of postgraduate students.

“To be honest, there has been little trust to the quality of our elites in terms of quality of publications. Now facilitating global supervision will invigorate our own quality standards,” he said.

Ms Jenifer Cosmas, a PhD student, College of Agricultural Sciences and Fisheries Technology (CoAF) at the University of Dar es Salaam agrees that there has been poor efforts by postgraduates to come up with quality thesis.

“We have no option but to embrace what the commission requires. We want to be part and parcel of the change we want in the society through our thesis,” she said, adding that, “this is the only way to be relied upon locally and outside the country through the kind of publication we publish.”