At the time of independence, in December, 1961, Tanzania inherited from colonialists an acute shortage of manpower for its socio-economic development. The shortage was so severe that the new Government believed that unless the problem of manpower shortage was dealt with first, socio-economic development would be impeded drastically. Hence the manpower development policy was created.
The policy dragged Tanzanian universities into the national economic plans. They had to produce given numbers of manpower to meet the requirements as estimated by the planners of the economy. The cost of training students was to be borne by the Government, i.e., Tanzanian universities were to be funded 100% by the Government. It was estimated that by 1980, Tanzania would be self-sufficient in manpower. However, up to the time this thesis was being written, the goal has never been achieved.
This case study focuses on the needs of high level manpower, i.e., employees who have at least a university degree. It covers the period from 1962 to 1994. It is a descriptive and interpretive study aimed at answering such questions as: why was the manpower self-sufficiency goal not achieved? What is the future of the policy? How were the universities affected by their manpower training role?
In this study, interviews were conducted with 22 administrative officials of the following institutions: the University of Dar-es-Salaam, the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Ministry of Science Technology and Higher Education, Department of Civil Service, and Planning Commission. Also documents were collected and information from them analyzed. More information was gathered through direct observation of the universities' and Ministries' activities concerning the policy.
The findings of the study are: the policy is obsolete, the Government is fully manpowered in some professions, the private sector still has some manpower shortfalls, the universities cannot expand corresponding to the high demand, the Government could not finance the universities as was expected, and the very economy that provided both the demand for manpower and the resources for its training declined.
The suggestion is made at the end of the thesis that the rigid manpower policy be changed to a market oriented one and that the Government merely provide information on the status of national manpower needs to applicants and universities.
