implementation of our system of workers’ participation in in-
dustrial management.

It is also necessary to understand the prevailing human factors.
As a result of historical factors the degree of literacy in Tanzania
is only 80 % of the whole population and even smaller percentage
consists of persons with any formal education at all let alone
higher education. Most of the workers will have little experience
of participating at formal boardroom meetings. By and large our
industrial labour force is derived from rural environment and to
whom industrial technology and its consequent disciplines are
matters which require familiarisation. Almost all our industrial
workers communicate in Swahili and not in English. This last fact
is very often forgotten. \

Taking into account these objective factors means that en-|
terprises prepare their own programmes to minimise flllteracy
especially in respect of leaders elected to workers’ participation m~
stitutions and for the working population in general; it means that
issues and viewpoints have to be explained fully verbally and in
Swahili than would otherwise be the case in a different culture or
environment; it means that meeting procedures have to be freed |
from undue complexity and formalities and have to be patiently
explained, and above all it means that industrial technological
orientation opportunities should be created through deliberate
programmes. These are measures which will improve workers / \
capacity and indeed propensity to participate effectively in in- /
dustrial management. ey

This becomes a discussion of a second pre-requisite to a sue .
cessful workers' participation programme in Tanzania. It is the {
necessity to establish and operate a Workers’ Education
programme as an inherent feature of workers' participation.
Workers' education though good as an end in itself is essential to
support effective workers’ participation. Its objective should in:
clude study of Tanzania's political environment in the industrial
set up, labour and enterprise economics, the social and economic
role of managements, NUTA, F.T.E. and of labour legislation. But
above all a Workers’ Educatign H_Programmew_‘,my,sl,.hcl-p\_t_o_)
disseminate literacy in Tanzania. '

This is why in my view thé Labour Department in Tanzania
has an important role to play in this process. It has well
established field offices throughout the country. It is in touch with

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