Tanzanian government has posed a challenge to the National Institute of Transport (NIT) to forge ahead, training and producing sophisticated professional engineers that will help running modern transport business which the state is heavily investing millions of dollars.
Over the weekend, the government held a brief meeting on new aircraft engineering training equipment donated by Tanzania Educational Authority (TEA) at Mabibo Campus in Dar es Salaam.
Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Professor Joice Ndalichako confidently said during the ceremony where TEA handed over the aircraft engineering training equipment to NIT that Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration is going to continue with the projects that were left behind by her predecessor, the late Dr John Pombe Magufuli.
“The government needs to see that higher leaning institutions offer courses that go hand-in-hand with its plans.
” While addressing the Parliament, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said that the government is building eight ships, four will be on mainland Tanzania and four for Zanzibar so we need qualified workers to meet the demand“, Professor Ndalichako said as an eye opener to the Tanzanian administration.
While congratulating NIT for a job well done so far, the minister pointed out that Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration is going to continue offering support to the state’s only transport and logistics elite institution.
“I also commend the National Institute of Transport for being an example of a higher strategic learning institution providing high training that reflects to the vision of Sixth Phase Government“, she added.
TEA director Buhati Geuzye said the equipment donated worth 245 million for aircraft maintenance engineering practical training courses.
This equipment is aiming to improve the teaching environment at NIT in the area of aviation that is considered important by the government.
Giving vote of thank, NIT Rector Professor Zacharia Mganilwa said the institute has trained 75 aircraft maintenance engineers since 2015 and the institute has already agreed with European plane maker to be one of its affiliated training centres in Africa.
He also added that 49 bachelors and diplomas in aircraft maintenance engineering have graduated so far since the establishment of School of Aviation Technology in 2015.
The NIT has high hopes that they will transform to become the best in training sophisticated engineers in aviation industry worldwide.
“NIT will be the airbus training centre for Africa which has now convinced us to start courting American plane maker, Boeing to also endorse us“, Professor Mganilwa said.
He also highlighted that aircraft maintenance engineering offered abroad with a fee ranging from 200m to 300 million per head but it should be different for NIT. He also revealed the plans of the institute to charge six (6) million for whole academic year per just to eradicate the existing gap of the aviation engineers in the country.
image: courtesy: africa-press
By Tiller Maringa
