Dodoma. The government plans to expand internship opportunities for university and college graduates, targeting at least 10,000 beneficiaries annually under a new national programme running from 2026/27 to 2030/31.
Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations), Dr Evelyn Munisi, told Parliament on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, that the initiative aims to equip young graduates with practical experience and skills that meet the demands of domestic and international labour markets.
She was responding to a question from Mwanakwerekwe Member of Parliament Kassim Hassan Haji, who sought to know government measures to help graduates secure internship placements and gain essential experience before entering the job market.
Dr Munisi said the government, through the Prime Minister’s Office, was implementing the National Graduate Work Experience Training Programme, which enables university and middle-level college graduates to acquire practical workplace skills.
She said the government had also developed the 2017 National Guidelines for Practical Training for Graduates to provide a framework for implementing internship programmes in public and private institutions.
‘Since the programme began in 2017/18 up to September 2026, the government, in collaboration with various stakeholders, has enabled 34,549 graduates to obtain work experience training,’ she told Parliament.
Of those who completed the training, 11,263 had secured employment, while another 5,116 had established their own businesses, she said.
The new programme is expected to build on these efforts by increasing the number of graduates accessing workplace training and addressing the mismatch between skills acquired through education and those required by employers.
In a supplementary question, Mr Haji urged the government to strengthen collaboration with the private sector, which he described as the country’s main employer, to create more practical training opportunities for university graduates.
In response, Dr Munisi said the government had initiated discussions with private employers to secure additional internship placements.
She said the move followed directives issued by the Vice-President, Mr Deogratius Ndejembi, in September, prompting the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations), Mr Deus Sangu, to convene a strategic meeting involving the government, private employers and other stakeholders.
The meeting brought together representatives of the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) and the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), among others, to discuss ways of increasing private-sector participation in graduate internship programmes.
According to Dr Munisi, the discussions resulted in an agreement by private employers to develop strategies to accommodate at least 20,000 graduates in practical training programmes.
‘The government has taken this concern seriously and is working on it. In the 2026/27 financial year, private employers are expected to take at least 20,000 graduates, depending on the available opportunities,’ she said.
She said the initiative was part of broader efforts to ensure young people benefit from economic opportunities as the country moves towards achieving the aspirations of Development Vision 2050.
Dr Munisi added that the government wanted to ensure graduates were not disadvantaged in the job market because of a lack of practical experience.
The programme is expected to make private-sector participation a key component of efforts to improve graduates’ employability, although the actual number of placements will depend on opportunities available among employers.