Admission to technical colleges now centralised

Dar es Salaam. Students pursuing first degrees, diplomas and certificates in any recognised middle level colleges in the country will from now on be enrolled via the Central Admission System (CAS) launched yesterday.

The National Council for Technical Education (Nacte) said yesterday the new system will curb the use of forged certificates, reduce costs that applicants incur during enrolment and avoid double admissions.

Moreover, through the system, students will be assured of enrolling only in recognised institutions.

Regarding further benefits of using the system, the acting executive secretary of Nacte, Dr Adolf Rutayunga, said it will also help the government to have accurate data on students securing admission to different institutions and identify with ease those who are eligible.

Nacte, which is responsible for regulating over 500 technical colleges in the country, was officially launching the admission system to all institutions for the academic year 2016/2017.

In another development, the system will be used in applying and coordinating training programmes for all institutions registered with Nacte. The new system was developed last year and was first used to streamline the admission of students to different colleges for certificate and diploma programmes in health and education colleges.

“The council has been working in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) in coordinating the admission of students to different universities for first degree programmes through the system,” he said.

The launch of the system means that all applications by students must be channelled through CAS.

As regulator the Council has established a framework that sets the quality standards for all technical education and training institutions.

The framework guides registration and accreditation of institutions and upholds standards in provision of technical education.

According to Nacte, there are currently 514 colleges countrywide offering technical education and which are under its supervision.

The launch of the new system comes a few days after TCU banned St Joseph University College of Agricultural Science and Technology (SJUCAST) and Information Technology (SJUCIT) Songea campuses in Ruvuma Region from undertaking academic delivery, arguing that they were offering education that is below the set standard.

The move has affected over 2,000 students, who, according to TCU, will be transferred to other institutions in the country that offer similar courses.

The TCU decision caused panic among students of the other colleges under the umbrella of St Joseph University, whereby those studying at the Dar es Salaam’s Luguruni campus decided to demonstrate to the ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training only to be met by anti-riots police.

The development also saw some 1,548 students hiring buses from Arusha to Dar es Salaam on Wednesday with the intention of marching to TCU offices to demand that the commission explain to them their fate after it deregistered two colleges under St Joseph University.