POOR working infrastructure and remunerations at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) has made members of staff of this institution seek greener pastures in other public universities.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Professor Rwekaza Mukandara, said during the graduation ceremony at the weekend that concerted efforts should be sought to address the problem.

Professor Mukandara said existing resources at the college cannot manage to accommodate a growing number of staff hence some of them being forced to leave for better working environment elsewhere.

"We have experienced huge enrolment of students which doesn't meet the government capacity to supply them adequate facilities as a result making it difficult to attract and retain the staff," he said. He said DUCE was working hard in collaboration with other stakeholders to solicit funds for the construction of resident halls for students and talks have started with the Social Security Funds towards that goal.

He thanked the government and other supporters for supporting DUCE since it was incepted about seven years ago to the stage that it has now produced about 4,900 graduates.

The College Principal, Professor David Mfinanga, said efforts are underway to secure a new master plan designed to utilize well facilities and resources that the college possesses. However, he said the challenge in making sure the college builds sufficient resources and facilities is the recent government decision to stop issuing guarantees to its institutions to secure loans from lending institutions.

"We are collaborating with institutions like the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to construct hostels, but currently, the government is not ready to issue guarantee towards that cause," he said. A total of 886 students graduated at DUCE in various academic disciplines. Out of them, 454 were men and the rest women.