This dissertation reports on a study that critically examines the influence of Knowledge - Based Economy (KEE) discourses on Higher Education (HE) in Tanzania. Its main contribution is empirical evidence from a low-income country (LIC); that the construction of a KBE has shaped HE policies and practices in ways that align with global political and economic trends, rather than with Tanzania's social and economic development concerns. In the late 1990s, multilateral organisations and international institutions, such as the World Bank, challenged countries to use HE to construct a KBE in order to more competitively participate in the global market economy. The World Bank argued that countries should have an efficient innovation system and workforce, developed through HE, that equips them with the knowledge and skills for a modem economy. Existing literature has highlighted different approaches and contested ideas on how a KBE can be constructed, and the extent to which KBE can be of benefit to a country's development in the global economy. To date, however, little research has been undertaken on the ways in which the Bank's particular imaginary of a KBE shapes the nature, form and outcomes of HE policies and practices in low-income countries (LICs). The aim of the present study is to explore the influence of KBE discourses on HE policies and practices in Tanzania. The study focused mainly on the World Bank's model of KEE, but also reviewed the perspectives presented in other models. To achieve the aim, the study adopted a Critical Cultural Political Economy of Education (CCPEE) theoretical framework to examine the articulation of KBE discourses in the policies and their influence on practices of selected higher education institutions (HEIs). The study employed a multi-site case study design; the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) headquarters and two universities - The University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). This enabled the review of both national and institutional policies as well as practices in the respective universities. The participants of the study were education policymakers in Tanzania, University administrative officials, and Academics from the two universities. Three methods of data collection were employed, namely, documents review, indepth interviews, and group discussions (arranged as workshops). The data that were collected were analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis and Thematic Analysis. The main findings of the study are that the Bank's KBE imaginary has continued to link HE to foreign agendas and interests. HE policies have been influenced to largely serve the interests embedded in neo-liberalism which conflict with the wider social, politi,?al and economic interests of Tanzanians. Furthermore, KBE has transformed universities into business institutions. It has encouraged academics to act in a more commercial and competitive rather than collegial manner, and encouraged them to acquire business-like identities. In this way KBE has turned academics into subordinate agents of an exploitative economic system, workers for other institutions rather than their employers, and exhausted 'jacks of all trades', rather than disinterested specialised intellectuals. These can be traced back to the model of a KBE adopted in Tanzania. It is argued that LICs would be better served if they designed and implemented their own models of KBE that were more relevant for the countries' context. The study also sets out recommendations and areas for further research that it is hoped will assist the Tanzanian government and HEIs in Tanzania to begin to articulate an alternative vision of a KBE appropriate for Tanzanian development needs.

The study reported in this thesis investigated approaches which the higher education sector in Tanzania employs to develop a research culture, and explored views on how to improve the research capacity within Tanzanian universities. A qualitative-multiple case study informed by interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review methods facilitates the data collection process. Six research sites including the Ministry of Education, the Tanzania Commission for Universities and four leading universities were involved in the study. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to recruit participants from the group of senior government officials, senior university leaders, academic staff members and postgraduate students. The selected Stufflebeam’s CIPP framework guided the conduct of the study, as well as the discussion and interpretation of the findings. The findings show that the Tanzanian higher education policy context has feasible policies and plans that support the development of research in the country’s universities. However, the higher education policy context lacks proper mechanisms to engender practical development and the monitoring of research. Moreover, the approaches used to develop research, although reported to improve institutional research profile, were found to be less demanding in enforcing the research culture. The findings also identified factors essential in building a research culture, such as research training, research mentoring, research funding and research incentives, which serve as a framework for universities and researchers across Tanzania, Africa and the world, to guide their decisions and actions towards promoting successful research cultures. The study, therefore, concludes that Tanzania needs to develop a deep-seated research culture within its higher education system to improve the production and application of knowledge, and eventually realise the National Development Vision 2025 that the country envisages, to advance from ‘less developed’ country status into a respectable ‘middle-income’ country. In so doing, the study recommends a reform of the national higher education policy to bridge the gap between policy articulations and implementation on the ground.

This ethnographic study has been undertaken to address a literature gap relating to rural students’ experiences of distance education in developing countries. It gives an account of teaching and learning practices at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), describes the needs, challenges and coping strategies of students and makes recommendations for improving teaching and support practices in rural areas. An ethnographic approach was used to enable the generation of rich, contextual data from four OUT regional centres. Data generation methods included interviews, observation and document review, while themes were inductively generated through thematic analysis. Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus were used to guide the conduct of the study and interpretation of the findings. The study shows that the OUT does not significantly address the problem of the educational divide between the rural and urban populations of Tanzania. This is mainly due to the urban location of regional centres and to students’ inadequate access to relevant teaching and support services such as tutors, library resources and Internet services. The existence of poor infrastructure and the many technological challenges encountered in rural areas further exacerbate the situation. Such limitations may make it difficult for students to develop the intellectual inquiry and critical commentary skills necessary to make informed decisions, and to acquire the competencies expected of graduates of higher education programmes. This study presents rich data based on the immersion of the researcher in the everyday lives of students at the OUT, and proposes a series of recommendations addressing the development of future policy and planning for the university.