THE CLASSROOM CONDITIONS AT SOLOMON MAHLANGU CAMPUS OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

The history of Sokoine University of Agriculture dates back to 1965 when it started as an Agricultural College offering diploma training in the discipline of agriculture.
The university has is currently have four faculties and other institutes including development studies institute and centres like information technology centre. Sokoine University of Agriculture (follow the link for more information.)

SUA has two campuses located at Morogoro municipal. This report is aiming at presenting the truth of the accommodation status of the Solomon Mahlangu Campus specifically the classes’ condition. Before the campus was established this place was used by South African freedom fighters who build a camp at this area (Mazimbu) for the progress of liberating their country (South Africa). After the liberation of South Africa those building were left under the supervision of Sokoine University of Agriculture and then the campus was established and called Solomon Mahlangu Campus who was one of the freedom key fighters .

Old library Building

The new Library building

THE TRUTH OF CLASSROOMS CONDITIONS AT SOLOMON MAHLANGU CAMPUS OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE.

The campus is still using the buildings those were left by South African freedom fighters. At the time when the fighters were going out of them they were exactly beautiful and having a quality of launched as university corridors. The exact disaster came as these buildings started to be used as classrooms by people of different cultural diversity and these are University students from Tanzania and other nearby countries. The campus is accommodating more than 3000 thousands students who some staying at University hostels and others are staying off campus. 

The actual conditions of class rooms are the ones pose threats to most of the students’ academic performance at the campus. Most of the classes are having teaching aids which are almost broken; projectors, microphone, amplifiers, adopters and boards are there but just for showing that they are supposed to be in class they are not efficiently performing to help lectures and students to understand each other during lecture hours. Some classes miss even rubbers. 

Private study: Being an academic institutions that means academic services are being provided at this university. Then is there conducive environment to make private studies; most of the students sit under trees during the day for study   and at night they many go to classes because the areas used during the day have no rights for them to sit and study. Challenges are coming to the time when they are trying to have studies under the trees where there is good ventilation as wind blows and trees provide cool shadows where they can sit and study but on this areas there are no facilities for sitting, they are forced to take desks from class rooms and put them under this trees. They are satisfying themselves but bring challenge to other side, these chairs and tables are being taken from Freedom square  where most of the tests, exams, and other special university assemblies are being done. So when people come for the service that they are supposed to get from this venue, is where the problem comes.

Size of the classes. Many of the programs offered at this campus has more than 30 students. With exception of few programs. Some programs have more than two hundred students but many of the classrooms they do accommodate not more than 40 students per session . This brings challenges to many students as they are forced to squeeze themselves in class room of 80 students though they are 221 in number. 

The SMC campus is the University’s campus with a very attractive environment, because the area is surrounded by planted trees and attractive flowers. And there is a big land where the University seems to have the opportunity of building modern buildings to solve problems of the existing accommodation facilities. There is a noted experience of students who are complaining of the classrooms condition; students are the mainly stakeholders of the University purposes, the institution should look on motivation and satisfaction of these students. The resources are available so they must be used efficiently to solve the problems.

This article has been written byMdesa Madaraka         Remi ReginaMwakalile Faraja Andrew  andKawonga James David