Physical facilities

The physical facilities such as classes, libraries, chairs, tables have been found to be challenging at the UDSM. Among the 80 students who filled in the questionnaires on the availability of enough classes, 84.5% responded that the classes are not enough for students, 12% responded that the classes are enough while 3.5% had no answer for that. In spite of few classes available, the classes are so small that they can not match with the allocated number of students. In addition, one student gave this view:

Vyumba vya mihadhara havitoshi. Chumba cha semina kilichonuiwa wakitumie wanafunzi 27 sasa hutumiwa na wanafunzi hadi 100. Vyumba vya mihadhara kwa ajili ya wanafunzi 400 hukaliwa na wanafunzi hadi 1000! (Mwanafunzi: Darasa la Sanaa, 2006.)

Author’s translation:

Theatre rooms are not enough. The seminar room which was intended for 27 students is currently used by a hundred students. A theatre room intended for 400 students is now used by a thousand students! (Student: Arts class, 2006).

The worst condition explained by most students is that some classrooms are much congested during conduction of classes. Other students are forced to stand outside the rooms and participating through windows. These challenges have more implications especially when the time for doing examination approaches. The students said that the examination timetable sometimes is destructed and make other examinations be conducted either at night or during holidays or during weekends. Some of the exams are forced to be conducted some days before the examination period. This means that the availability of few classes and their small sizes destruct even the examination timetables. Additionally, some students reported other consequences:

The number of students is higher than the rooms available which makes some seminars to fail to be conducted (Student: Commerce class, 2006).

Wanafunzi hasa kitivo cha Fass hulazimika kwenda engineering hivyo kupoteza muda wa kwenda na kurudi (Mwanafunzi: Darasa la Sanaa, 2006).

The Faculty of Social Sciences students are obliged to attend lectures at Engineering College; thus the time to go and return is unnecessarily lost (Student: Arts class, 2006).

Other physical facilities which are challenging to students are furniture. Responding to the questionnaire about the availability of furniture in academic buildings, 87% responded that the chairs and tables are not enough for students. 10% responded that the furniture is enough while 3% did not respond. Most of those who reported the insufficiency of furniture explained that such insufficiency is a result of the increased number of students. Explaining the consequences on that, most of them said they sometimes stand, sit two students on a single chair, sit on the floor or sit on the tables during lectures. Stating other consequences, some students responded:

Ni sehemu chache zenye viti vya kutosha, asilimia kubwa ya madarasa hayana viti vya kutosha na vilivyopo ni vichakavu, ninahisi vya tangu ukoloni (Mwanafunzi: Darasa la Sanaa, 2006).

Author’s translation:

Only few classrooms have enough chairs, most of them have no chairs, and those available are outdated. I think they are there since colonialism (Student: Arts class, 2006).

Viti ndio kabisaa havitoshi, kwani wanafunzi huwa tunasukumana kuwahi viti (Mwanafunzi: Darasa la Sanaa, 2006).

Author’s translation:

Chairs are very scarce, therefore we sometimes push one another in hurrying for chairs (Student: Arts class, 2006).

The already explained challenges including the insufficient microphone possessors and speakers, fans or air conditions, chairs, to mention a few, worsening the whole teaching and learning process. For instance one of the students from the faculty of Commerce came with this assertion regarding the scarcity of lights in some of the classes:

For the tube lights or bulbs some are working and some are not. You will find a class part of it is dark and the other has light forcing students not to use it during the night (Student: BBA, 2006).

Likewise, the students’ leader in responding to the challenges students get regarding physical facilities said that the problems are there and the situation is a bit worse. She also responded on classes being few, and lack of enough chairs. The administrator in replying the interview question concerning the facilities, he explained two possible causes. The first cause is the miscommunication between the lecturers and those who are arranging the class timetables. From such a miscommunication he gave this example:

Unakuta mkufunzi anahitaji darasa la wanafunzi 200 kumbe anao 300. Matokeo yake anapewa darasa dogo halafu wanafunzi wengine wanabaki wanachungulia madirishani wakati wa vipindi (Mtawala: Chuo kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, 2006).

Author’s translation:

You find a lecturer requesting a classroom of 200 students while s/he has 300 students. As a result, s/he is given a small classroom where some students attend the lecture while peeping through windows (University Administrator: UDSM, 2006).

The second cause he mentioned is the increase in enrollment. He said that the high demand of higher education led to the increase in enrollment. And such an increase has not matched with the increase in facilities. Emphasizing the need of increasing enrolment, the Administrator said that they can not wait for the increase in facilities then followed by increase enrollment while the demand is still there. He said that every year students are finishing there advanced secondary school levels and others are graduating from other tertiary institutions. In addition, the administrator pointed out the facilities which have been increased. These include two theater rooms near the library, reading area under the extension of the library, two cafeterias which have been changed to be lecture rooms and the extension of the microbiology building. With the exception of those mentioned, two theatres were being built with the capacity of accommodating 2000 students each.