DODOMA: Tanzania is expanding vocational education as part of a broader strategy to equip its workforce with practical skills aligned to industrialisation, entrepreneurship and job creation.
The state-run Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) currently operates 80 training centres nationwide, serving more than 86,000 trainees annually. Officials say that number will rise sharply as construction and upgrades continue across the country.
Speaking in Dodoma, VETA Executive Director Anthony Kasore said the government aims to ensure that every district has at least one VETA-owned college. Construction is under way in 64 districts, alongside a regional centre in Songwe valued at 100 billion shillings.
By 2027, VETA expects to operate 152 colleges nationwide, raising annual enrolment capacity to 250,000 trainees.
“This is a nationwide network of opportunity,” Kasore said. “We are positioning skills-based education as a driver of employment and productivity.”
The authority is modernising curricula to reflect labour-market demand and introducing flexible pathways for graduates. In 2026, 134 diploma and degree holders enrolled in long-term vocational programmes, benefiting from exemptions that shorten completion time.
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Digital delivery is also expanding through the VSOMO platform, which allows students to complete theoretical coursework remotely before attending in-person practical sessions. Twenty courses are currently available online.
VETA is implementing the Integrated Training for Entrepreneurship Promotion programme, targeting 2,000 youth and women annually. More than 7,000 informal sector workers have already benefited from short-term training in areas such as tailoring, carpentry and food processing.
Through the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture initiative, over 5,600 young people have been trained in agribusiness skills.
Under the national Mama Samia Skills Formalisation Programme, VETA aims to certify 30,000 artisans in the current financial year, contributing to a target of formalising 80,000 youth by 2027.
Officials say the expansion of vocational education is central to Tanzania’s ambition to reduce youth unemployment, strengthen small enterprises and build a skilled workforce capable of supporting long-term economic transformation.
