Sebastian Kolowa University College

Dear Student, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). It is an honour to have you at Sebastian Kolowa University College (SEKUCo), a constituent college of Tumaini University owned by the North-Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. The doors of SEKUCo were opened for the first 138 students on 28th October 2007. We began with the programme of Bachelor of Education Special Needs (BEd SN) under the Faculty of Education. During the second academic year we added the programme of Bachelor of Law (LL.B). This is our third academic year and we have opened the faculty of science, its first programme being Bachelor of Science in Eco-tourism and Nature Conservation (BSc ENC). We are glad to have you as our student and believe that in accordance with SEKUCo’s motto Acquire Knowledge, Serve with Compassion, you will contribute in building up a society which can rightfully call itself inclusive in all aspects of life.

SEKUCo has been opened to fulfill three main objectives:

First, we intend to run programmes which focus directly on producing graduates who will work with people of all backgrounds, with emphasis on those with disabilities.

Secondly, we want to mainstream issues about the needs, rights and potentials of all people, especially those who have physical, sensory, intellectual and/or behavioural barriers in all programmes;

Thirdly, we want to create a disability-friendly environment so that students who have physical or sensory limitations may be able to live and study as comfortably as possible.

The philosophy of SEKUCo is to combine knowledge of mind and commitment of heart in offering education so that students graduating from SEKUCo position people with disabilities high on their priority lists as they serve the Tanzanian society. Our aim is to offer high quality education to all who qualify to join university studies and produce graduates who will faithfully serve all people. However, the graduates will be instructed in ways that enable them to place disadvantaged groups in the centre of their attention. The integration of the perspective “from below” will continue to be a cross-cutting concept in all programmes at SEKUCo. Policy makers, educators, administrators, lawyers, scientists and entrepreneurs who have their minds and hearts at places where they are needed most are required in the whole society of Tanzania. In particular, they are needed if those who constitute the lowest stratum in the social pyramid are ever to be liberated from the yokes of oppression, degradation, humiliation and stigmatisation that they often endure silently and unnoticed.

Currently we are preparing the curriculum of the programme of Bachelor of Science in Mental Health. Other programmes to be started in the future are Engineering & Technology, Business Administration and Communication Skills. Our plans also include opening of directorates. In the second half of this academic year we will open the Directorate of Diakonia.

It has also been the intention of the founder of SEKUCo to create a higher learning institution that provides a teaching and learning environment that is conducive for students with disabilities and various socio-economic challenges. A critical examination of what happens in most existing higher education institutions in Tanzania indicate ad hoc attention to issues of disabilities. Most institutions do not have infrastructure and learning facilities that are disability friendly. This condition has far reaching consequences. Disabled learners who complete lower level education are highly disadvantaged when they want to, or enrol in, higher education institutions in the country. They have to walk an extra mile to perform, they lack working aids and it becomes hard for them to walk or ride to classes, libraries, laboratories and other venues. SEKUCo intends to see to it that living and study conditions are favourable to people with various sorts of barriers.

SEKUCo aims at training people who will become experts in their respective fields. For that to be possible, students are being equipped with adequate and relevant theoretical knowledge as well as practical experience. Students and staff are also conducting research projects whose findings are crucial in transforming lives of disadvantaged people. Equally important is provision of service to surrounding communities by availing SEKUCo’s  treasure of knowledge and experience to formal and informal social institutions, beginning at family level.

Welcome to Sebastian Kolowa University College of Tumaini University!

Rev. Dr. Anneth Munga
Provost