Kikwete decorates DUCE 18th graduation ceremony; Best students hail the government for funding

The Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) commemorated the eighteenth graduation ceremony in style by producing 1,823 fresh graduates who are ready to storm the real world. This historic event was officiated by the former President and current Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Dr Jakaya Kikwete.

The colourful ceremony was held on Saturday, 29th November 2025 at the College’s campus, where the graduands were decorated with Diplomas, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Out of 1,823 graduates, 1,008 were women, representing 55.3 percent, while male graduates were 815, equivalent to 44.7 percent. 

However, the talking point has been the record stamped by four male graduates who accumulated the same 4.7 GPA to emerge as top performers in this year's ceremony. They are Ramadhani Raphael Seif (Bachelor of Education in Science), Gonelimali Roland Julius (Bachelor of Science with Education) while Benedicto Mwamini Scharion and Sasila Masalu, who studied Bachelor of Arts with Education. 

In his acknowledgement remarks, Masalu commended parents, guardians and lecturers for their encouragement and support that have enabled them to graduate. "Sometimes, our parents and guardians deprived themselves for us to attain education, and we are here now cherishing their incredible support towards our education," he said.

Furthermore, he hailed the government for disbursing loans through the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB), insisting that had it not been for the loans, most of them could not have reached this far. "I take this opportunity to request the government to continue providing loans to needy students who, without the loans, cannot manage to settle education bills at the university level," he said.

Again, he urged government to create a conducive environment to propel self-employment spirit of people in various sectors as one way to contain unemployment challenges.

To DUCE management, he pleaded them to do their utmost to address accommodation challenges facing many students saying most of them reside in areas which are not comfortable to support proper learning.