OPINION: Beating the odds in the jobs market

Unemployment remains a key challenge for many developing countries, including Tanzania, where new graduates continue to flood the increasingly competitive global jobs market yearly.

Research shows that, while the potential workforce in developed countries is expected to drop, the opposite is happening in Africa, where it is expected to rise by 1.3 billion in the next 40 years. These developments are rife with both opportunities and challenges. The question then arises: how competitive are Tanzanian graduates in such a global talent pool?

One opportunity is that Tanzania will be able to send more of its skilled workforce to fill gaps in developed countries. On the other hand, the challenge is for the country to produce highly-skilled workers if we are to remain relevant and competitive.

What, then, can higher-learning institutions do to increase Tanzanian graduates’ marketability in the global economy?

Higher-learning institutions should consider creating environments which enable students to pursue professional qualifications in parallel with, or addition to, merely academic degrees. For instance, accountancy degree students can simultaneously pursue a Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) study programme at the same time. Computing degree students can pursue Information Technology Infrastructure Library; Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT, etc.

Some Tanzanian universities already have well-established facilities that offer professional qualifications – such as the Computing Centre at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). However, not many students take advantage of these facilities for some reason or other.

So, why don’t many university students study additional professional qualification programmes during their academic tenure?

My experience as a former Tanzanian University student is that lack of awareness is a problem.

For instance, I took my computing degree course at UDSM, and was aware of the University Computing Centre. What I didn’t know was that I could take an ITIL course as well.

I graduated, got a job, worked a few years then went for my second degree in the UK, where I met people from different countries who had multiple qualifications acquired during their first degree course! One of them had an accounting degree and a CPA from Strathmore University in Kenya. The idea being so strange to me at the time, I asked how she had achieved that...

Apparently, the lady had taken her main classes during the day and CPA classes in the evening – which was also done by roughly 50 per cent of her college mates.

Neither I nor my college mates had taken up any additional study programmes in like manner – and I couldn’t think of anyone else I knew who had done that either!

Luckily for me at the time, as a postgraduate student in the United Kingdom, one of my study courses provided training that prepared me to sit for an ITIL Certification examination. The course instructor made sure that we understood the benefits of this qualification and what it prepared us to become.

In the event, he went a step further, giving us examples of real jobs in the market from which we would benefit on the back of this qualification.

In the end, I was more than happy to bag two qualifications at the end of my academic tenure, thus significantly increasing my marketability in the job market stakes. Sages say it is indeed ‘better late than never.’ However, it would have been best if I had achieved such qualifications much earlier.

In any case, it is not all lost, as we can make it ‘earlier and better’ for future students.

How, then, must higher learning institutions establish this much needed shift from conventional to new and more competitive ways of imparting knowledge?

1. One way is to enrich curricula with material that will prepare students to take exams for additional qualifications.

2. Universities can also explore partnerships with other accredited institutions where students can take exams.

3. Deliberate actions must be taken to provide awareness, guidance and encouragement to students to take additional courses for professional qualifications while still at University. We need to go that proverbial extra mile here.

4. Universities must create awareness to students on the types of career prospects that await them in the outside world.

In order to set in motion sustainable change and progress, we must participate in all this. We must individually and collectively seek to move the education dial positively. We must resolve to start somewhere, with what we have, as individuals, organizations and government. We must move steadily and relentlessly towards producing high-quality graduates with the required competitive edge to thrive in the global talent pool.

Epiphania Kimaro writes on leadership, women issues, career and technology. She can be reached via Email: [email protected]