Coordination between Economic, manpower and educational planning in Tanzania its impact on employment opportunities for secondary school leavers

This study aimed at investigation the problem of unemployment of secondary school leavers in Tanzania in relation to the manpower requirements model. It sought to establish if the unemployment problem can certainly be accounted for, in part, by the existence of serious flaws in the application of the manpower requirements approach. Constraints in the model application were sought in the areas of information flow, accuracy and reliability; coordination on of manpower plans, training and allocation; and attitudes of economic, manpower and educational planers towards to the question of assisting secondary school leavers to embark on self- employment opportunities. Therefore there were three major research questions for this study to answer:(a)To what extent are the processes of manpower forecasting, economic growth, educational expansion and training, and the manpower allocation based on accurate, reliable and coordinated information?(b)Does educational expansion respond to manpower requirements forecasting and /or economic growth or to other variables? (c)To what extent are the economic, manpower and educational planners’ attitudes favourable towards self employment rather than- wage-employment opportunities for secondary school leavers in Tanzania Three major ministries which are involved in manpower planning and implementation process were chosen, namely, the ministry of Development planning and economic Affairs, ministry of manpower development and administration, and ministry of national education. From among twenty four (24)responsible officers within the three ministries, five (5), at the level of director, were interviewed. For data collection two methods were used in this study: the documentary review and the structured interview. Research findings indicate that:(i)In practice, educational expansion is not based on manpower forecasts nor is manpower development necessarily a response to economic growth as the manpower requirements planning model would suggest. In other words, the degree of effective coordination and control between educational expansion, manpower plans and economic growth was low (at policy level 76 percent responses felt there was no coordination), and in practice officials in the three ministries felt that the degree of working cooperation between the ministries was poor (55 percent responses felt that they were not working closely in planning and implementation). And educational expansion and training is not controlled primarily by manpower forecasting or popular demand, funds availability from external countries and agencies, economic development level exert greater influence. (Ii)The flow , accuracy and reliability of information circulating between the ministries as a basis of planning and or implementation left much to be desired. (iii)The study revealed that the attitudes of economic, manpower, and educational planners were quite negative towards helping secondary school leavers to establish themselves towards self- employment. (iv)Lastly, the poor information, as well as negative attitudes of planners towards self- employment opportunities, have contributed significantly to the problem of unemployment of secondary school leavers in Tanzania. On this basis of the findings, the following recommendations have been made for both action and further research: (a) For manpower requirements model to be effectively applied in Tanzania there is a need to develop and strengthen the collection, flow and coordination of accurate and reliable data. The plans and implementation of manpower planning too have to be well coordinated. (b) It is important that the manpower requirements model be reviewed on the basis of the real prevailing conditions of Tanzania and a decision be made regarding the approach that manpower requirements approach or the social public demand approach or the cost- benefit one, needs a fresh discussion. (C)Because all secondary school leavers cannot be employed in wage/salary in government and parastatal sectors, self- employment opportunities have to be properly planned for them (d)It is important that a tracer study be made to establish what happens to secondary school leavers, how long they remain unemployed, and how themselves see their own situation. (e)Also a study on the description and categorization of self- employment opportunities be undertaken so that information on this may be made available to school leavers. (f)To supplement this study, a research could be done to find out the self- assessment of the secondary school leavers themselves with regard to their attitudes to and competencies for self- employment.