Poverty and Human Development Report 2009 - UNDP in Tanzania

POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2009
Higher Education
Enrolment in Higher Education Institutions
The rapid acceleration in tertiary education continues. Enrolments in higher education institutions
totalled 95,525 students in 2008/09, up from 82,428 students in 2006/07 (Figure 14). The
MKUKUTA target has now been exceeded.
Figure 14: Gross Enrolment in Higher Education Institutions, 2002/03 – 2008/09,
with MKUKUTA Target
Number of students enrolled
50
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
30,700
40,184
48,230
55,296
75,346
82,428
95,525
90,000
2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 MKUKUTA
Target 2009/10
Academic years
Sources: PHDR 2005 (RAWG, 2005) and MoEVT, BEST (various years).
However, the proportion of young people from the poorest two quintiles of households attending
tertiary institutions is only 4%, compared with 56% from the least poor quintile (Table 12). In
addition, the under-representation of girls in higher secondary continues into tertiary education;
only 34% of tertiary students are women. The percentage of female students improved slightly over
the previous year, suggesting that the pre-entry programme for women with lower qualifications
– which was introduced to expand women’s participation – is having a positive effect.
Investing in the more efficient operation of the Higher Education Loans Board will be a necessary
step towards increasing equity – and ensuring that the increased budget allocations to the tertiary
sub-sector support the institutions and the students who attend.