January 1st-31st,

2016

News The
Flash
Open University of Tanzania

The OUT Chancellor Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro conferring a Honorary Doctorate to HE Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete during the 30th OUT
graduation Ceremony, Kinondoni Regional Centre grounds, 21st January 2016

OUT confers two Honorary Doctorates

T

he number of recipients of Honorary Doctorates

of the Open University of Tanzania has increased
after conferment of honorary doctorates to two more
distinguished persons during the 30th graduation
ceremony that was held on 21st January in Dar es Salaam.

promote national development and prosperity and

continue to share common objective of using open and
distance learning in promoting quality and affordable
quality education for sustainable development.
During the ceremony, three candidates were awarded
their PhDs, twenty received their Masters degrees and
others received their bachelors, diplomas and certificates,
making a total of 69 graduands.

The former President of Tanzania HE. Dr. Jakaya

Mrisho Kikwete was conferred the Doctor of Letters
in International Cooperation and Development in
recognition of his significant contributions to social
economic development and regional peace. The fifteenth
President of the Chosun University in South Korea Prof.
Chae-Hong Suh was conferred a Doctor of Science
in recognition of his contributions to development in
science and technology, both locally and internationally.

In the past, OUT conferred Honorary Doctorates to

seven other distinguished individuals, including the late
Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere; the late Nelson Mandela; HE.
Ali Hassan Mwinyi the second President of Tanzania;
HE Benjamin Mkapa the third President of Tanzania;
Dr. Koichira Mastuura Director General UNESCO; Dr.
Jane Goodall an anthropologist and a UN Messenger of
Peace, and Prof. David Mellor Chairperson of the UK
Telecommunications Academy. The number of OUT
honorary doctorates since its establishment in 1992 has
now reaches nine.

The chairman of the OUT Council Prof. Samwel Wangwe

congratulated the two recipients of the Honours
Doctorates on behalf of the OUT community, telling
them that the University community is looking forward
to continue receiving their contributions in order to

OCB conducts capacity building

workshop for Academic Staff

he Open University Consultancy

Bureau (OCB) conducted a
workshop to build capacity of
academic staff on how to competitively
bid for consultancy services. The two
days workshop was opened by the
Vice Chancellor Prof. Elifas Bisanda
on Friday 15th December 2016 at the
ODL Tower conference hall.
Giving his remarks, the Vice
Chancellor insisted on the importance
of such training for the staff;
Consultants are not born; they are
made by equipping them with the
right knowledge and skills. We hope
that this workshop will provide the
participants with added skills for
them to be able to bid for and win
consultants in their areas of expertise
said Prof. Bisanda.
The workshop was facilitated by Prof.
Ninatubu Lema from the Bureau

for Industrial Cooperation (BICO)

of the University of Dar es Salaam,
a mogul in the area of consultancy
services who is also the Chairperson
of the OCB Board and Dr. William
Pallangyo, former Head of the OCB.
The Director of OCB Dr. Emmanuel
Mallya took the opportunity to explain
the roles and responsibilities of
academic staff regarding consultancy
services at the University, insisting
on the importance of registering
all their assignments. OCB was
established in 2008 with the objectives
of streamlining and coordinating
consultancies
and
contracted
research at the University. Up to
the moment, OCB has signed MoUs
with several institutions to team
up and collaborate in consultancy
services, and through these efforts
has generated a substantial income to
the University

The OCB Director Dr. Emmanuel Mallya

addressing the workshop participants.
ODL Tower, 15th January 2016.
Twenty two academic staff from
the five Faculties and two Institutes
participated in the workshop, and
were trained on different aspects of
consultancy bidding, including how
to professionally prepare different
documents that are required in
bidding for consulting services such
as the Expression of Interest.

FASS conducts workshop for Food Processing Industry

The Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences (FASS) in collaboration with
the Small Industries Development
Organization (SIDO) organized a
one-day workshop on innovation
activities in food processing industry.
The workshop took place on 22nd
January, 2016 at the ODL Tower
conference hall and was coordinated
by the Faculty Dean Prof. Deus
Ngaruko and Mr. Mato Magobe a
Faculty member.
About 40 small scale food processors
from Dar es Salaam city participated
in the workshop, which aimed
at
gathering
information
and
opinions from food processors about
networking and their innovation
activities. The key question addressed
was how networking helps food
processors to carry out innovation
activities. It is understood that
network relations are a source of
diversity of knowledge, information,
finance and technology which are
key ingredients for innovation. The
food processing industry is viewed
as a key industry in ensuring food
security and sustainability of the
manufacturing sector as a whole.
The development of food processing
industry creates opportunities for
strategic partnerships with farmers,
and such relations increase the
production and quality of high value
crops.

Several key issues emerged from the

workshop in relation to innovation
including;
Food processors facing problems
in finding markets for their
products.
Lack of business management
knowledge
and
skills
in
identifying
strategic
outlets
and new needs in the markets,
product/market
trends
and
broadening marketing channels.
Limited scope in innovation
activities due to lack of
information on technology and
credit.
Legal constraints and bureaucracy
in compliance with the Tanzania
Bureau of Standards and TFDA
regulations.

Limited linkages with national

knowledge
organizations
for innovations (Research &
Development
centres)
like
universities, research and training
institutions.

The information obtained from the

workshop will be used as an input
in developing curricula for short
professional courses; developing
curricula for academic certificates,
diploma and degree programmes in
innovations in the food processing
industry;
establishing
business
incubators involving the SMEs in
the food processing industry and
organizing
annual
stakeholders
symposia for SMEs in food processing
industry Tanzania.

Dean FASS Prof. Deus Ngaruko (left), addressing the workshop participants at ODL
Tower on 22nd January, 2016.

Participants of the training on Basic Counseling Skills in session, Mbeya Regional Centre, 25th January 2015

OUT staff trained on Basic Counseling

A

Dean of Students Dr. Zacharia Rwejuna and Rev. Dr.

Lechion Kimilike of Iringa Regional Centre, who is also a
professional counselor.

bout thirty staff from all Regional Centres and the

Office of the Dean of Students were trained on
Basic Counseling. The one week training workshop
was conducted from 25th to 29th January 2016 at the
Mbeya Regional Centre.

During the workshop, participants got an opportunity to

discuss issues such as the basics of communication, career
counseling, myths and facts of counseling, basic counseling
skills that include skills in listening, questioning and body
language.

During the opening ceremony, the Vice Chancellor Prof.

Elifas Bisanda explained that the rationale behind this
training was the fact that distance learners have the highest
rates of drop-outs and some of the contributing factors
is lack of professional guidance and counseling. OUT
decided to organize training for a batch of counselors so
as to improve students welfare services said the Vice
Chancellor.

On her part, the consultant Dr. Mafumbate advised OUT

to set special rooms for guidance and counseling at the
HQ and the Regional Centres because the service should
be done in privacy and not in the regular offices.
The training participants are expected to practice their
knowledge and skills when back to their respective
centres and were directed by the VC to continuously
submit monthly reports of their activities to the Dean of
Students, who will in turn submit a collective report to
the Student Welfare Committee. This is just a beginning,
we will continue doing this and probably in the future
OUT will start a Guidance and Counseling degree at the
postgraduate level said Prof. Bisanda.

Distance learners may drop out from studies mostly due

to issues related to academics and social such as family
matters, financial constraints, health problems and
psychological pressures. The trained counselors were
expected to acquire some knowledge and skills to enable
them perform their duties.
The training workshop was facilitated by Dr. Rachel
Mafumbate, a consultant from UNISA assisted by the

Formulation of the OER Policy on another step

O
UT in collaboration with the
Commonwealth of Learning
(CoL) and the OER Africa
successfully conducted a two days
workshop for ODL practitioners
on formulation of the OUT policy
on Open Educational Resources
(OER policy). The workshop was
facilitated by Dr. Sanjaya Mishra
of CoL and Dr. Tony Mays of OER
Africa.

equitable opportunities for

education. OER is the roadmap
to where the future of education in
the 21st century lies, OER enhance
the possibility of changing the role
of the teachers from provision of
knowledge to facilitation of the
learning process said the Vice
Chancellor.

OER provide potentials in changing

the education delivery mode from
being merely the passing of tests and
examinations and getting awards to
enabling learners to acquire tangible
learning outcomes, thus learners
have a variety of learning resources
from a wide range choice to freely
learn what they need.

The workshop, which was conducted

from 28th to 29th January, 2016 at
the ODL Tower, aimed to review the
OER progress in order to draft the
OUT OER Policy document. Issues
such as preparation, development
and promotion of open access
resources, including copyright,
licensing and quality assurance and
control were discussed.
On his opening speech, the Vice
Chancellor Prof. Elifas Bisanda
expressed his appreciation to CoL
and OER Africa for the continued
support in the sharing of expertise
and experiences in the field of
OER for the purpose of increasing

Facilitators and some of the participants of the OER workshop together with the Vice
Chancellor and the DVC-AC in a group phots, 28th January 2016.

The International Visiting Scholar Program participant

shares experience of trip to China
In late 2015 Ms. Doreen
Mwamlangala, an academic
staff at the Faculty of Law got an
opportunity to visit the Shanghai
Open University (SOU) in China for
two weeks under the International
Visiting Scholar Program. This
followed an earlier call for proposal
through ACDE for academic
staff wishing to participate in the
program. Ms. Mwamlangalas
proposal titled Open Educational
Resources: a comparative study
between Shanghai Open University
and the Open University of
Tanzania won and she was
selected.
The main purpose of the program
is to promote cooperation between
open universities, through academic
exchange and to enhance the quality
of teaching and research in open
and distance learning. Together
with the OUT representative, the
program was attended by nine other
visiting scholars from the Open
University UK; Open University
of the Netherlands; University
of Poitiers, France; Universidade

Doreen and other visiting scholars in a Group photo

Aberta, Portugue; Universitat Oberta
de Catalunya, Spain; Zambian Open
University; Universitas Terbuka,
Indonesia; Yangon University of
Distance Education, Myanmar;

and Allama Iqbal Open University

Islamabad in Pakistan.
The visiting scholars participated
in different discussions and each

gave a seminar presentation on

different aspects of open and
distance learning, such as quality
assurance, students support and
retention etc. They also participated
in an international conference on
The Capacity Building of Open
Universities in the Globalization Era
in which eight papers were presented
and discussed. The conference
was co-organized by the Shanghai
Open University and UNESCO

UNITWIN Network in Distance

and Open Learning. More than 200
participants from 13 countries of
Europe, Asia, and Africa attended
the conference. The conference
focused on the exploration of
educational reforms and the latest
achievements in online distance
education. Participants shared their
experiences and views on MOOCs,
flipped classroom, building capacity
of staff in research through open and

distance education, learning support

services, management services and
other aspects.
The program was very informative
as it built the capacity of the visiting
scholars on different aspects of ODL.
Furthermore, it turned out to be not
only a collaboration between OUT
and SOU, but a collaboration and
sharing of experiences with other
ODL institutions from ten countries.

The OUT and Chosun University teams discussing on implementation plan for their MoU. ODL Tower, 22nd January 2016.

OUT and Chosun University further plan for MoU implementation

The Open University of Tanzania and the
Chosun University of South Korea continued
with discussions on implementation of the
MoU between the two institutions that was
established in 2015.
The President of Chosun University Prof. ChaeHong Suh who was in the country to receive
his Honorary Directorate, visited OUT on
Friday 22nd January 2016 and held discussions
with the implementation team. Prof. Suh was
accompanied by Prof. Kyu-Young Jung Director
Language Education Institute and Prof. David
Song the OUT Liaison Officer for Asia/Pacific.
The OUT team was led by the Vice Chancellor,
accompanied by the Dean Faculty of Science,
Technology and Environmental Studies Dr.
Leonard Fweja and other officials.
The two teams took stock of what steps have
been taken with regard to the identified areas of

collaboration and narrowed down to start with

Language Teaching and Cultural Exchange by
establishing the King Sejong Cultural Centre
at OUT, meanwhile speeding up discussions
on the establishment of the OUT Energy
Resources Centre. These activities will involve
two way movements of staff and later on
students exchanges until the projects take off.
It was mutually agreed that the key players in
the mentioned areas of collaboration will start
engaging each other immediately, paving a way
for signing of a Memorandum of Agreement
(MoA) followed by a Service Level Agreements
for every project/activity. A timeframe with
targeted milestones and evaluation schedules
will also be in place by May 2016.
Later during the meeting, Prof. Suh expressed
his sincere and heartfelt appreciations for OUT
in recognizing and honoring his professional
achievements through the Honorary Doctorate.

The OUT VC Prof. Elifas Bisanda and the President of St. Marys University of Ethiopia Prof. Wondwosen Tamrat signing a
Memorandum of Understanding, VCs Office, 13th January 2016.

OUT establishes collaboration with an

Ethiopian University

he Open University of Tanzania

has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with St. Marys
University of Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
This followed the visit of the Founder
and President of the University
Prof. Wondwosen Tamrat who was
accompanied by his Vice President for
Business and Administration Dr. Daselegn
Berie Meshesha to OUT on Wednesday
13th January 2016. The aim of the visit was
to learn and share experiences and success
stories in day-to-day operations of the two
institutions.
The two visitors paid a courtesy call at

the VCs office where they were briefed

on the OUT profile. Later on they visited
various units including the Kinondoni
Regional Centre, the SADC Centre, library,
Institute of Educational and Management
Technologies and the Directorate of
Examination Syndicate where they were
briefed on a nutshell on the programmes
and activities of OUT. Later on the held
a meeting with members of the OUT
Management and discussed potential areas
of collaboration.
The MoU between the two institutions will
involve coordination of undergraduate
and postgraduate studies, research and
consultancy activities.

Captains of the OUT Teams showing off their cups.

OUT teams that shone in TUSA games awarded prizes

he Vice Chancellor Professor Elifas

Bisanda held a brief function to
congratulate the OUT teams that participated
in the Tanzania Universities Sports
Association (TUSA) held in Dodoma in late
December last year.
The OUT teams actively participated and
shone in various games including netball and
basketball for women in which OUT emerged
the overall winners and was awarded cups. The
OUT basketball team for men took a second
position and was also awarded a cup. OUT also
won in long-jump and shot-put for males and
received medals.
The VC congratulated the OUT players for
their participation, excellent discipline and
dedication, through which they promoted the
Universitys name and image to the public. He

presented prizes and certificates to individual

team members.
Professor Bisanda promised that next time the
University Management will provide more
support to the teams in terms of provision of
required equipment and also organization of
preparation camps. He directed the Dean of
Students and the Senior Games Tutor to make
deliberate efforts of identifying talented sports
men and women among OUT students in the
Regional and Coordination Centres so as to
strengthen our teams.
TUSA Games is an event organized on a
rotational basis among local universities,
to bring together students from scores of
universities in the country. The last years
games were hosted by the University of
Dodoma.