République-Unie de Tanzanie

The main objective of the National Apprenticeship Guideline (NAG) is to provide guidance to all stakeholders in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating apprenticeship training programmes in Tanzania. Specifi c objectives of the guidelines include:- (a) To set out the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in training, funding, quality assurance and coordination of apprenticeship programs; (b) To establish a structured continuous dialogue mechanism between all apprenticeship partners; and (c) To provide a clear framework for quality assurance of apprenticeship programs.

Tanzania has sustained relatively high economic growth over the past decade, averaging 5 to 8 per cent per year, and leading to a decline in poverty rates. However, the country’s population is growing rapidly, and educational attainment is weak. Agriculture provides most employment. Economic growth and formal employment are concentrated in the main urban area, Dar es Salaam. Achieving structural transformation of the economy and poverty reduction, while preventing environmental degradation, will therefore require a massive effort in skilling the labour force. However, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has long suffered from limited access, poor quality, lack of labour-market relevance, and stretched governance capacity. An ambitious National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) has been designed to address these challenges.

The Vocational Education and Training Act, 1994 part II section 4 (1) stipulates the objectives and functions of the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA). The promotion of on the job training in industry for both apprenticeship training and for skills updating and upgrading and promote access to vocational education and training for disadvantaged groups. The Competence Based Assessment Guidelines which were approved by the VET Board in March, 2011 considers informal and formal apprenticeship as alternative modes of training delivery hence providing for mechanisms for assessing competencies attained therefrom. Recognition of Prior Learning Assessment (RPLA) is an integral part of Competence Based Assessment. The concept of recognizing and accrediting what people already know and can do is having a signiÀ cant impact on many of the education and training programmes currently being developed. If applied properly, the concept is very useful for integrating the marginalized populations both, the self employed who seek qualiÀ cations to access wage employment or the employed who aspire for promotion and better pay or further career development. The guidelines for RPLA have been developed to act as a tool that will facilitate the exercise by providing proper guidance to all parties that will be involved in the process. These include, among others, RPL facilitators, assessors and moderators/validators. The guidelines are as well important to other stakeholders who in one way or another, interact with apprentices/ employees. They include individual employers and their related umbrella associations, trade unions, regulatory bodies other than VETA, VET providers, the government, NGO and higher learning institutions. It is our belief that, involvement of all key stakeholders will not only strengthen the VET system but also forge linkages and hence get approval and recognition of its services especially the graduates who will undergo the RPL processes successfully.