SOSTHENES MWITA in Dodoma
Sunday News; Saturday,February 09, 2008 @19:03
THE University of Dodoma (UDOM) expects to accommodate about 5,000 students in five hostel blocks whose construction is currently in progress and should be over by August, this year, a project architect, Mr Mohamed Sumar, said here today.
Mr Sumar, who was briefing visiting members of the Parliamentary Committee for Social Welfare Development, said construction of classrooms and other requisite buildings would take off in May, this year, and should be over three months later.
The UDOM Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idris Kikula, told the committee, which was led by its chairperson, Ms Jenista Mhagama (Peramiho CCM) that the site they had visited was the future College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Mr Kikula also showed the MPs the site for the College of Informatics and Virtual Education that was visible from two kilometers away. The other four colleges will include the College of Education and the College of Life Sciences.
Others are the College of Health and Allied Sciences and the College of Earth Sciences. Architect Sumar, who took the legislators round the busy construction site, said each hostel block will have 218 accommodation rooms and will house about 1,000 students.
He also said each hostel block will have 20 sets of toilets and showers and 14 laundry rooms. The central courtyard will have covered terraces that will seat about 200 people and a parking lot for 300 cars, he said.
The hostels also have user-friendly facilities for disabled students. The vice chancellor said the master plan for each college includes sports facilities that would be located in the vicinity. He also said there would be a police post in the compound of each college and a major station near the university.
When complete the College of Humanities and Social Sciences would cover about ten hectares of land. It is adjacent to the Chimwaga Hall where the initial 1,300 students have their classrooms and other facilities. The students are temporarily housed in 100 residential quarters at Kisasa.
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) have been contracted to build the College of Humanities and Social Sciences;
PSPF would build the College of Education; PPF would construct the College of Computer Science, a library and the student centre, according to Prof. Kikula. PPF would also build the College of Earth Sciences and the College of Life Sciences.
The Abu Dhabi Fund has shown interest in financing construction of the College of Health and Allied Sciences and CRDB would build a road round the university. Prof. Kikula said the university faces a few challenges that need to be addressed.
He said the six-kilometre long road from the municipality to the university and the road that links the student hostels at Kisasa to the university need to be expanded and tarmacked. The universitys site covers an area of about 6,000 hectares.
The site has a good view of the municipality from some of the hills. We are committed to creating an attractive environment to study and work, the university council says in a brochure. The vision of the university is to become a centre of excellence and valued member of the global academic community, offering a comprehensive education in diversified academic programmes geared towards intellectual transformation.
The mission of the university is to provide comprehensive, equal and quality education to a broad segment of the population through teaching, research, extension and consultancy in the fields of education, health and allied sciences, life sciences and social services