Challenges Facing University College Graduates In Competing For Official Employment Opportunities In Tanzania: A Case Of Dodoma Municipality

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted at Dodoma Municipality which is located in Dodoma Region. The study attempts to examine the challenges facing University/College graduates in competing for official employment opportunities in Tanzania. The objectives of the study were to examine to what extent graduates unemployment is the problem in Dodoma Municipality, to identify the exact causes why graduates fail to secure jobs in Dodoma Municipality and finally to understand if there is enough programs and efforts to support graduates from universities or colleges to get official employment in Dodoma municipality. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design and a sample size of 80 respondents were adopted in the study which implicated all unemployed graduates from various universities and colleges who stay in Dodoma Municipality. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The scientific Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 was used in analyzing the data. The study reveals that there are several causes that directly or indirectly lead to graduates unemployment, that some of them are due to poor education curriculum in our country, others relate more to government efforts while others reveal on graduates themselves. The problem has become not only challenging to educated people but its impacts are realized in various aspects in the country. Upon the problem, the study recommended that the government and other stakeholders should find out any practical solutions to address the problem by encouraging graduates to self-employment, Promote employment facilitation and design different employment stimulus programmes within sectors to curb the graduate unemployment