The Proliferation of Private Universities in Tanzania: Quality Compromised?
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Wudpecker Journal of Education Research
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University education has a significant contribution to development endeavors. Universities have to
provide countries with highly qualified skilled labour and technological developments through
researches. Most invariably skilled labour impacts to different national projects positively. It must be
noted that the university education required to accommodate development projects successfully must
be of high quality. The concept of quality can variably be assessed. The prominent four approaches
have been used to assess the quality of education in particular. Such approaches are structural
approach, processes approach, product-output approach, and legal and institutional approach.
Tanzania introduced university education in 1970 with only one university, i.e. the University of Dar es
Salaam. Before this time, Dar es Salaam University was the university college of East Africa as it were
for Makerere University College of East Africa (Uganda) and Nairobi University College of East Africa
(Kenya). After the adoption of liberal policies of private ownership, Tanzania is experiencing a
proliferation of private universities alongside public universities. With emphasis on legal-institutional
and structural approaches, this article argues that the quality of private universities in Tanzania is
undermined greatly. The article recommends a proper review of education policies reflected in the role
of universities by the government and private university owners.
Keywords
Private Universities in Tanzania