Technical Education, Knowledge and Skills in the Metalworking Industry in Tanzania

Abstract

Although the nature and extent of the role of education in the successful transition from a dominantly agricultural society to a dominantly industrial one are still debated (Szirmai, 1997a), in general one can say that knowledge and skills – primarily gained by various forms of education – were among the key variables in achieving the second phase of the Western transition. Against the back ground of a dramatic increase in the pace of technological innovation in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors of the economy in the highly industrialized countries since the late 1980s, and the fact that many developing countries, particularly in Africa, cannot keep up that pace by far (Castells, 1997), knowledge and skills are probably more important than ever in developing countries.