Africa-Press – Tanzania. DEPUTY Minister for Finance and Planning, Ms Mwanaidi Ali Khamis has underscored the need for higher learning institutions to instill values and morals to undergraduates since most of them join the colleges at a young age.
The deputy minister came up with the important call on Thursday evening when she laid a foundation stone for the construction of the Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP) –Mwanza that will serve the Lake Zone.
The college is being built at Kitumba village in Magu district, Mwanza region at a cost of 2bn/-.
She said free-education policy that is being implemented in the provision of basic education has created room for students who join higher education at a much younger age, hence necessitating colleges to impart values, morals and ethics in their upbringing.
Experts say both ethics and morals deal with distinguishing right from wrong, while ethics are usually associated with a practical set of rules that are to be followed in a professional setting, such as a code of ethics in medicine, law, and business, whereas morals refer to an individual’s personal principles.
Ethics are the rules one abides by in order to remain within a community or profession. Morals are one’s personal values that run to the core of his or her being.
She said the task of raising children and students who join higher education at a younger age becomes even challenging during this time when Information Communication Technology (ICT) rules people’s lives.
Experts in psychology, such as Prof Jean Twenge from San Diego State University in the US state that traditional-age college students spend an extraordinary amount of time on electronic devices — nine hours a day.
As a result, many students have a difficult time focusing, are distracted by devices during class and are sleep-deprived.
The deputy minister also called on the Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP) to carry out researches that respond to life challenges facing Tanzanians, especially the rural population.
She said the research findings must be written in simple Kiswahili to be able to be shared with ordinary people.
She asked the institute to come up with programmes and curricula that will attract a good number of people, including students from East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.
On her part, the Chairperson of IRDP Governing Council, Prof Martha Qoro said the institute will work on the advice issued by the deputy minister, starting with the morals, values and ethics to students.
