Sabarwal, Shwetlena2014-09-152014-09-152013-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20127We examine the question of workforce skills for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania and find a mixed picture full of potential. On the one hand, education access has expanded at all levels and a more educated cohort is now entering the labor market - signaling the availability of a more skilled workforce for SMEs. On the other hand, acute shortages of secondary and postsecondary graduates persist. Disturbingly, the quality and relevance of primary education has come into question. It is unclear whether increased access to primary education is actually translating into acquisition of crucial basic skills in the country. In light of this, it is unsurprising that education attainment no longer appears to be a reliable proxy for relevant skills, as perceived by employers. Further, SMEs seem to have very little meaningful connection with education institutions for recruitment of workers. A related but equally concerning problem relates to the culture of recruitment among SMEs in Tanzania. It is one of passive hiring, wherein firms rely on networks and referrals to identify employees instead of actively seeking them through open advertising and links with education providers. In this backdrop there is room for cautious optimism. SMEs seem increasingly to realize and emphasize the importance of workforce skills, even though, in relative terms, they are likely to be significantly more pre-occupied with infrastructure constraints. Interestingly, a large share of firms that have recently failed consider inadequate workforce skills to be a contributing factor of above average importance to firm failure.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO PRIMARY EDUCATIONADULTSAPTITUDESBASIC EDUCATIONBASIC EDUCATION STATISTICSBASIC SKILLSBULLETINCALLCLASSROOMCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTCOGNITIVE SKILLSCOLLEGE DEGREECOUNSELINGCREATIVE THINKINGCURRICULACURRICULUMDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISTANCE LEARNINGEARLY CHILDHOODEARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENTEARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTIONSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMICS OF EDUCATIONEDUCATED WORKERSEDUCATION ATTAINMENTEDUCATION ECONOMICSEDUCATION EXPANSIONEDUCATION INSTITUTIONSEDUCATION LEVELEDUCATION POLICIESEDUCATION PROVIDERSEDUCATION QUALITYEDUCATION SECTOREDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONSEDUCATIONAL INVESTMENTSEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAININGETHICSEXAMEXAMSFAMILY MEMBERSFOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONSFORMAL EDUCATIONFORMAL TRAININGGENERAL EDUCATIONGERGOVERNMENT POLICIESGROSS ENROLLMENTGROSS ENROLLMENT RATEGROSS ENROLLMENT RATESGROSS ENROLLMENT RATIOHIGH RATES OF TEACHER ABSENTEEISMHIGHER EDUCATIONHIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSHIGHER LEVELS OF EDUCATIONHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMPACT OF EDUCATIONINFORMED CHOICESINTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATIONINTERNATIONAL TRENDSINTERNSHIPSINTERPERSONAL SKILLSINVESTMENT IN EDUCATIONJOB OPPORTUNITIESJOB TRAININGLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR SUPPLYLABOUR MARKETLACK OF INFORMATIONLEARNINGLEARNING MATERIALSLEARNING OUTCOMESLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIFE SKILLSLITERACYLITERACY SKILLSLOWER LEVELS OF EDUCATIONMATHEMATICSMINORITYMOBILITYMOTHERNUMBER OF PEOPLENUMERACYNUTRITIONOCCUPATIONSONLINE COURSESPAPERSPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPERSONALITYPOLICY MAKERSPOOR NUTRITIONPOST-PRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY DATAPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMENTPRIMARY GROSS ENROLLMENT RATEPRIMARY LEVELPRIMARY LEVELSPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOL LEAVERSPRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERSPRIMARY SCHOOLSPROBLEM SOLVINGPROBLEM SOLVING SKILLSPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROVISION OF SERVICESPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC SCHOOLPUPILSQUALITY OF EDUCATIONQUALITY PRIMARY EDUCATIONQUESTIONINGREADINGRESPECTRETURNS TO EDUCATIONSAFETY NETSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL DAYSCHOOL LEVELSCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOL LEVELSECONDARY SCHOOLSSELF-ESTEEMSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSKILL ACQUISITIONSKILL LEVELSKILL-DEVELOPMENTSKILLED STAFFSKILLED WORKERSSKILLED WORKFORCESKILLS ACQUISITIONSKILLS DEVELOPMENTSKILLS TRAININGSMALL ENTERPRISESSOCIAL SKILLSSPONSORSSTUDENT ASSESSMENTSSTUDENT ENROLLMENTTEACHERTEACHER ABSENTEEISMTEACHER MOTIVATIONTEACHER PAYTEACHERSTEACHINGTEACHING MATERIALSTECHNICAL COLLEGESTECHNICAL EDUCATIONTECHNICAL SKILLSTECHNICAL TRAININGTERTIARY EDUCATIONTEST SCORESTEXTBOOKSTRAINEESTRAINING OPPORTUNITIESTRAINING PROGRAMSTRAINING SERVICESTRANSPORTATIONUNEMPLOYMENTUNIVERSITY EDUCATIONUNMET DEMANDSURBAN AREASVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL SCHOOLVOCATIONAL TRAININGWORKING POPULATIONYOUNG PEOPLEYOUTH10.1596/20127