TCU
has revoked St Joseph University in Tanzania's accreditation barely
five years since its establishment, citing gross underperformance.
Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU)
Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) has decided to revoke
the university’s accreditation after it was discovered that it did not
meet established university education benchmarks.
The two revoked constituent colleges are St Joseph University
College of Agricultural Science (SJUCAST) and St Joseph University
College of Information (SJUCIT) based in Ruvuma region.
At a media briefing held at TCU head office in Dar es Salaam
yesterday, its Executive Secretary, Prof Yunus Mgaya said the Commission
was convinced that the two colleges were not delivering to the expected
quality of university education, a trend which affected the academic
pursuit of their students.
“Over the years there has been persistent quality assurance and
governance to ensure adherence to the Universities Act, Cap 346. Despite
previous warnings by TCU, the administration of St Joseph University at
the two colleges remained defiant and failed to improve the education
standards offered. As a result the students were ‘half cooked’ in their
respective disciplines. The only option was to close it down,” Prof
Mgaya elaborated.
He announced that all the students were supposed to vacate the
university campuses immediately upon completion of the set clearance
procedures and all would be required to report to receiving institutions
when the second semester opens.
“The Commission has approved the transfer of all the students from
the two colleges to other universities with similar programmes at cost
to SJUIT. This includes first and second year students at SJUCIT and
SJUCAST pursuing Bachelor of Technology in Agricultural Engineering and
Bachelor of Technology in Food Processing Engineering, who are currently
based at the main compass, Luguruni, in Dar es Salaam,” he explained
According to TCU, currently there were 2046 students at the two
colleges pursuing different courses such as Bachelor of Technology in
Agriculture (with 238 students); Bachelor of Technology in Horticulture
(61 students); Bachelor of Technology in Agriculture Engineering (255
students), and Bachelor of Technology in Food Process Engineering (238
students).
Other courses are Bachelor of Science with Education (732
students); Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (250 students);
Bachelor of Computer Science (250 students); Bachelor of Computer
Science with Education; Bachelor of Science in Education with Computer
Science (196 students), and Diploma in Computer Science (81 students).
“In a view of the aforesaid, the public is hereby notified that the
Commission is convinced that the two colleges are not delivering to the
expected quality of university education, considering the fact that the
students at SJUCAST and SJUCIT are seriously affected by the recurring
problems at the said colleges,” the TCU boss insisted.
“Following this decision all continuing students at SJUCAST and
SJUCIT are informed that they will be transferred to other institutions
offering similar programmes under the following arrangements and
conditions:
“All students are supposed to immediately vacate the university
campus upon completion of the set clearance procedures. Students will be
required to report to the receiving institution upon the opening of the
second semester. The date for opening of the semester for each
receiving university will soon be communicated through the TCU website.”
Prof Mgaya noted that all students pursuing programmes related to
agricultural science and engineering and those who pursuing Bachelor of
Science with Computer Science will be transferred to Sokoine University
of Agriculture (SUA).
Students pursuing Bachelor of Science with Education would be
transferred to one of the following institutions: SUA, University of
Dodoma (UDOM) and Mwenge Catholic University (MWECAU).
He said students pursuing Bachelor of Science with Education and
Bachelor of Computer Science in Education with Computer Science would be
transferred to Ruaha Catholic University (RUCU).
The Commission chief elaborated that all transferred students who
did not complete their end semester examinations would be required to
sit for examinations at the receiving university under agreed special
arrangements.
According to TCU, all students who are beneficiaries of Higher
Education Students’ Loans Board will have their loans transferred to the
receiving university forthwith.
The Commission reminded all universities and other higher learning
institutions of their obligation to provide quality education as TCU
would not entertain any university or institution that compromised the
quality of education.
St Joseph is among universities registered under the TCU law. It
is owned by Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI) and collaborators. It was
founded and accredited in 2003 by the National Council for Technical
Education (NACTE).
In 2011 it requested to be accredited by TCU, which was granted in
December of the same year. The following year the Commission gave its
approval for the university to establish three constituent colleges.
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