TESCEA paves the way for Mzumbe University’s Centre of Excellence in Innovative Teaching and Learning

Mzumbe University in Tanzania is one of the four pioneer universities of TESCEA (Transforming Employability for Social Change in East Africa). Two years on, Mzumbe has now embedded the approach at the heart of the university, establishing a brand new centre of Excellence in Innovative Teaching and Learning to drive deeper change. Meet Perpetua Kalimasi, head of the Mzumbe TESCEA team and Senior Lecturer specialising in Education Management and Policy studies. Her vision is clear: she wants to see positive transformation in Mzumbe University’s graduates, equipping them with real life skills to find and create employment. Two years after the conclusion of TESCEA’s first phase, we sat down with Perpetua to hear about the change that has taken place at her university.

Continued stakeholder engagement: a pillar of progress

Mzumbe University continues to place importance on engagement with external stakeholders. The Joint Advisory Group (JAG), a mechanism for universities to interact with stakeholders from the industry and the wider community initially established under TESCEA, has now evolved under the World Bank-led Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) Project. The group is led by Mzumbe’s Dr. Musabila, another dynamic and proactive TESCEA team member who formerly coordinated the JAG.

Evolution of teaching and learning practices

While it may be challenging to observe teaching in every classroom, Perpetua tells us that lecturers often mention the transformative approaches they use with students. University management continues to trust multipliers trained under TESCEA, recognising their competencies in pedagogy. This showed, for example, when they recently requested support in creating a manual for innovative pedagogies for lecturing staff.

A new centre for excellence in innovative teaching and learning

Perpetua Kalimasi and Albogast Musabila working together at a TESCEA steering group meeting

The most notable achievement after the first phase of TESCEA is Mzumbe University’s new Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Perpetua explains, “…part of the sustainability strategy of TESCEA was to establish a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning so that we can promote and sustain all the practices that we have learned…because if you don’t have a structure to streamline it, people will forget over time.” The journey to the centre’s opening wasn’t easy: “When we had a reshaping of the university structure, I thought, this is the right chance to propose this. I proposed it to my supervisor…and we tried to channel this across meetings and meetings.”
Leading on another project called 4SITE (Self-Steering Sustainable Social Innovation Through Training and E-Research), Dr Musabila collaborated and supported the proposal process. Their efforts were not in vain – the university senate approved the centre and made Perpetua its coordinator. She says that the winning argument for the centre’s establishment was that because of TESCEA, all resources needed were already available, including facilitation handbooks and learning design tools for in-person and online learning.

The centre will provide students with soft skills training and placement opportunities, training of lecturers in innovative pedagogies, lecturer placements in the industry, and online and blended learning trainings. Together with the university’s quality assurance unit, the centre will help ensure high quality teaching, quality of course content and more relevant programmes for students.

Addressing youth unemployment: bridging the skills gap

Ultimately, the aim is to enhance the competencies of Mzumbe University’s students, for them to find an easier way into Tanzania’s labour market. Acknowledging the issue of youth unemployment in the country, Mzumbe’s new centre, along with its continued stakeholder engagement, seeks to address this problem by aligning what students learn at university with the demands of employers.

As Perpetua awaits for the budget allocation to operationalise the new centre, speaking to her showed that TESCEA has left an indelible mark on Mzumbe University and its staff. Her words reflect the continued commitment to transformative teaching and learning using TESCEA approaches to ultimately improve graduates’ future. We look forward to learning what the next years will bring for Mzumbe University.

Want to learn more about TESCEA or get involved? Click here to read more or reach out to INASP’s Executive Director, Jon Harle.