THE Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) is on the spotlight after producing four top graduates with each accumulating a 4.7 GPA, a unique performance that many students dream of but only a few achieve it. These quadruple were paraded during DUCE’s eighteenth graduation ceremony held over the weekend at the university’s campus in the city.
They are Ramadhani Seif who studied Bachelor of Education in Science, Julius Gonelimali who did Bachelor of Science with Education while Scharion Benedicto and Masalu Sasila walked away with Bachelor of Arts with Education apiece. Indeed, their hard work in studies finally paid off as they had to endure sometimes sleepless or late nights simply to pass with such convincing GPA which is not easy but achievable.
For DUCE, it is a record to experience this milestone and also, supporting evidence that the university has all the needed materials to help learners scoop adorable grades in their studies.
What else could be the reason for the four graduands to achieve this remarkable performance other than their seriousness to outshine in class and hopefully, they will replicate the same spirit to do well in real life.
Due to this feat, the four graduates earned a rare privilege of being awarded Certificate of Excellence from the former President and the incumbent Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Dr Jakaya Kikwete who presided over the graduation ceremony.
The historic ceremony unleashed a total of 1,823 fresh graduates of whom, 1,008 are women representing 55.3 per cent while male graduands are 815 equivalents to 44.7 per cent.
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Until now, overall, DUCE has produced 23,547 graduates ever since the university was established and are on the ground immensely contributing to the development of the country in their numerous capacities.
Filled with laughter and excitement, the energetic graduands seized every moment with pride while their parents, guardians, relatives and friends were curiously following the proceedings, possibly waiting for the postgraduation parties to appreciate their dedication.
In her remarks, Chairperson of the University Council (UDSM) Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar commended the government under the visionary leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan for continuing to render big support in improving teaching and learning environment at DUCE.
“We thank the government through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) for giving us funds to implement various projects aimed at scaling up infrastructure including the HEET (Higher Education for Economic Transformation),” she said.
Additionally, she commended the government for continuing to provide loans to many students through the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) while acknowledging the management of DUCE and all those involved to make this year’s graduation ceremony a big success.
DUCE’s Governing Board Chairman Prof William Anangisye hailed all the graduates for their hard work and patience during their studying period to earn Diplomas, Bachelor’s Degrees and Master’s Degrees.
“You deserve to be congratulated for being part of few Tanzanians with the level of education you have attained and it is convincing to find out that you have acquired such education from one of the best universities in the country. “I also thank all those who played a part to ensure that you study hard and graduate today like parents, guardians, relatives and friends…they provided enough support in form of parenting, guidance and encouragement throughout your studies,” he said.
Again, he underscored the importance of HEET project saying through it, DUCE is constructing two new buildings which upon completion, he said will highly facilitate learning and teaching environment.
He also pointed out that the university is doing well in conducting impactful researches, knowledge sharing and provision of community services. DUCE Principal Prof Stephen Maluka cemented that the college will continue to produce competitive graduates with required qualities to thrive on job market.
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“These graduands have been fully trained and are imparted with education skills that will enable them to add value at their working places and being accepted in their respective communities. “It is our hope that they will be patriotic employees with desire to help in the development of our country… also, I urge you to be good ambassadors of DUCE wherever you go. “On behalf of my colleagues, let me take this opportunity to urge you to be responsible citizens and use well the skills you have gained for the benefit of our nation,” Prof Maluka said.
He also used the platform to invite those willing to pursue various master’s degree programmes offered at DUCE to do so while revealing that during the 2026/27 academic year, students will be enrolled to study the newly introduced PhD in African Languages.
“We have also succeeded to deploy some of our staff members for short-term upgrading programmes so as to accelerate their work efficiency and a total of 96 staffs have been empowered for long-term upgrading trainings.
“These staff training sessions have immense benefits to our university bearing in mind that when they return back from such programmes, they assist to improve working efficiency and minimise the dependence of part-time lecturers,” he said.
He further revealed that in the year 2024/25, 38 DUCE staffs returned from their studies held within and outside the country, a thing he said reduced the reliance of part-time lecturers.
Also, Prof Maluka disclosed that following massive investment at the university, it currently has 142 Doctor of Philosophy holders of whom 52 are women representing 37 per cent while 90 are male equivalent to 63 per cent. “Out of them, there is one Professor, seven Associate Professors, 36 Senior Lecturers and 98 Lecturers,” he remarked.