University of Dar es Salaam

 

The University of Dar es Salaam is the oldest and largest university in Tanzania. It is also ranked among the top 650 universities in the world.

The University of Dares salaam, locally identifiable by the acronym UDSM was founded in 1970 as a result of the split of the University of East Africa, the main campus of which was at Makerere in neighbouring Uganda. The University of East Africa had been founded at Makerere during the British colonial rule in 1922. In 1956, University College Nairobi in Kenya was inaugurated as part of the University of East Africa. The University of Dar es Salaam was first established in 1961 as a College of the University of London with one faculty (law) with 14 students. In 1963 it became a Constituent College of the University of East Africa. In August 1970, it became an independent institution named The University of Dar es Salaam. It has since grown to be, by some distance, the largest University in East and central Africa. The university is a public institution with no religious or political affiliations.

 

Mission

The University of Dar es Salaam stated mission is three-pronged: Teaching, public service and research. Public services are provided to the community in areas of industry, commerce, business, management, education, health, law, science, engineering, lands, architecture, planning, information and communication technology, informatics, technology and environment, arts, social sciences. Its legal aid services have proved particularly invaluable to many people of low means over the years. With regard to consultancy services, 60% of the clientele is foreign.

 

Student enrolment

Most of the undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam are Tanzanians. A minority of students come from the SADC countries in East, Central and Southern Africa. A smaller proportion of undergraduate students come from further afield.

 

The undergraduate student body has grown over the years and currently number about 18,000. There are around 2000 postgraduate students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evolution of the UDSM

Since its inauguration as an independent institution, the University of Dar es Salaam has evolved almost out of recognition. Its main campus has always been at Mlimani, about 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the Dar es Salaam city centre. Up until the late 1980s, its faculty of Agriculture was based in the neighbouring town of Morogoro. This was then unbundled to form an independent University known as Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). Likewise, the faculty of Medicine based at the largest referral hospital in the country at Muhimbili in the outskirts of the city was spun off and is now known as the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

 

Today, the UDSM has five campuses and ten faculties. The majority are in the city of Dar es Salaam. That is, with the exception of The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mkwawa University College of Education in Iringa in the southern highlands, several hundred kilometres from Dar es Salaam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areas of study

The majority of students at the University of Dar es Salaam are enrolled in the fields of Humanities and Social sciences; Science, Engineering and technology; Business, Management and Law. The university offers courses leading to 66 different Bachelor’s degrees; 3 diplomas (Education and Computer sciences) and 2 certificates (Computer sciences and Law). Postgraduate courses are also offered in a variety of fields. The full list of courses offered can be found at the University’s website.

 

The vast majority of students study full time. A typical undergraduate degree course takes three years to complete.

 

Academic Staff at UDSM.

Academic Staff at the University of Dar es Salaam number just over 1300. Only around a quarter are female. Over 80% of the academic and research staff hold doctoral degrees. The current vice-chancellor is Professor Rwekaza Mukandala, a former President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS); Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Head of Department of Political Science and Public Administration at UDSM. He is also a renowned author with several books under his belt.

 

 

 

 

 

Next Page: Sokoine University of Agriculture

 

The late Mwalimu Nyerere (right) was the first chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam. Here, he is seen at the graduation ceremony in 1986, a year after his retirement. In the middle is the then Tanzanian president and just inaugurated University chancellor  Mr Ali Mwinyi.

Left is the University emblem. The motto (in Swahili)‘Hekima ni Uhuru’  translates as  ‘Wisdom is freedom’. On the right is the iconic Nkrumah Hall at the main campus of the University of Dar es Salaam