Government lauds NIT for acquiring hi-tech teaching equipment
What you need to know:
- Deputy minister says the gear should help the institute to produce ‘well-baked’ experts in various transport areas
Dar es Salaam. Massive investments in modern teaching equipment at the National Institute of Transport (NIT) have won the government’s commendations, with a deputy minister calling upon other institutions to regard NIT as their benchmark.
The deputy Minister for Works and Transport, Mr Mwita Waitara, said during his visit to NIT at the weekend that the equipment had what it takes for the Institute to produce well-baked experts in various modes of transport.
“What I have seen during this tour is training equipment that meets international standards…
I urge other institutions under the ministry to come here to learn… This must be copied by other colleges,” he said.
He said the government begins trials for the high-speed train from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro in November this year - and it was encouraging to see NIT training experts in railway transport.
“This simply means that we will get sufficient manpower to run our standard gauge railway (SGR) trains,” he explained.
He said with the growing aviation sector, it was also encouraging to note that aircraft engineers and pilots were being trained locally.
The NIT’s Rector, Prof Zacharia Mganilwa, said the institute will continue backing government’s modern transport projects including SGR, ship building, oil and gas and also the blue economy.”
“With these projects, we have developed programmes to cater for the expert needs such as a Bachelor’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering to support the nation’s blue economy initiative,” Prof Mganilwa said.
“In supporting the SGR project, we have started offering a Diploma in Electrical and Train Electrification Engineering, a Diploma in Electronics, Telecommunication and Railway Signalling Engineering, as well as a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with Railway Vehicles Technology,” he said.
NIT was established by Act of Parliament (No. 24 of 1982). But its history dates back to 1975, when it was initially formed to oversee the transport sector, as well as undertake comprehensive training of sectoral manpower.
