Tanzania Agreement

The overall goal of the Programme for Institutional Transformation, Research and Outreach (PITRO) programme is to increase the contribution of the University of Dar es Salaam to Tanzania’s efforts in the way of economic growth, reduced poverty and improved social wellbeing of Tanzanians through the transformation of the education, science and technology sectors.

The immediate objective is to ensure that qualifying candidates have equitable access to high quality education, knowledge and skills for increasing productivity and reducing poverty. For further information, please see the PITRO programme document.

Programme components

The PITRO programme has two main components.

1.Research, development and outreach

The research, development and outreach component focuses on demand-driven and basic research with the aim to empower and provide solutions to community challenges.
Important parts of the present programme portfolio are research projects in the areas of education, environment and good governance.

The main thrust of the research projects in the field of education focus on the use of Kiswahili in schools, equity in learning and assessment of Tanzanian higher education. In the environmental field, the research projects focus on genetically modified crops, climate change and geological hazards, while research on governance includes projects on financial management, good governance and community-based education interventions.

2.Institutional transformation and capacity building

The institutional transformation and capacity building component aims at improving the capacity of UDSM in terms of human resources, physical infrastructure, strategic interventions dealing with issues concerning HIV/AIDS, gender and disabled groups, improved employability of graduates and enhanced competence and performance of academic and administrative staff.

The component focuses on training at PhD and Master’s degree level. Administrative and technical staff will participate in short courses locally and internationally to enhance the performance in the core mission and administrative functions of UDSM.

Part of the improvement of the physical infrastructure at UDSM includes the establishment of a gymnasium and fitness centre. The major aim of the project is to provide the institution with a basic gym for teaching, training, testing and research by students and staff in Physical Education. However, the gym should also be open to staff and students for recreation purposes and health promotion.

The University of Oslo is a supporting partner to UDSM in this programme.

Budget

The PITRO programme period is 2009–2012 with a total budget of NOK 60,000,000.