IN efforts to improve education quality, the Ministry for Education, Science and Technology has launched the Industrial Advisory Committee which will determine need for professionalism and skills in the labor market and advise areas for improvement.
The Advisory Committee is required to provide advice and facilitate the improvement of curricula and the preparation of new syllabuses.
"The Committee will help provide feedback and advice that will facilitate the improvement of some curricula and the preparation of new syllabuses that will abide with the market need, skills and improving training management for the current labor market and its needs," Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Prof James Mdoe said on Monday at the launch of Industrial Advisory Committee and Curriculum Review Training.
The committee comes after the launch of the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project, funded by the World Bank (WB), which is set to make the education sector a main driver for the economy.
Prof Mdoe said the government has allocated 18.23bn/- to all institutions that will be used to revitalize and prepare new curricula for higher education institutions and to ensure that the education provided is in line with the needs of the labor market inside and outside the country.
Through the HEET project, Prof Mdoe said the Ministry intends to train at least 3500 lecturers from more than 60 per cent of public universities to attend Internship for one month or more in the employment sector in order to learn more about the needs of the market.
Additionally, the project will address the country's pressing need for high-skilled workers with labor market-aligned competencies in priority areas, which have been frequently cited by employers as a result of the limited abilities of graduates from higher education institutions in the country.
He said under the project, the country's higher education sector will see the construction of infrastructure including hostels, lecture rooms and conferences in which 14 universities will be beneficiaries.