Dodoma. Even at the age of 74, his craving for higher education was not over. And his long dream finally came true on Saturday when he was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Law by the Open University of Tanzania (OUT). It was all smiles and cheers when Lazaro ole Kipeyan from Arusha was conferred his hard earned academic credentials during the university’s 27 graduation ceremony. The oldest student was among 762 from eight countries, including Tanzania, who graduated on Saturday in Dodoma bringing a total of all students who had graduated since OUT came into being in the early 1990s to 22,265. Clad in his ceremonial garb, Mzee Kipeyan strode to the dais amid cheers from the audience and was conferred the law degree by the Chancellor of the University Dr Asha-Rose Migiro. He was among the few graduates given special treatment during the four-hour event; the others being those with disabilities, the aged and those who excelled in studies. Other graduates at the ceremony dedicated for the central zone regions of Dodoma, Singida, Tabora and Manyara came from Angola, Egypt, France, Kenya, Libya, Namibia and South Sudan. About 60 per cent of them (458) were males and 304 females and were conferred with certificates, diplomas, undergraduate and post-graduate degrees as well as PhDs. Speaking at a well attended ceremony in Dodoma’s central park, Vice Chancellor Prof. Tolly Mbwette once again defended distance learning against some criticisms that it was inferior compared to resident learning in universities. “It is unfortunate that some people still consider distance learning to be inferior. This perception is unfounded. It is upon the leaders and government to tell people how distance learning has brought change in this country,” he said. He added that until recently OUT had the highest student enrolment compared with other local varsities and that out of the total 22,265 who had graduated since it started its operations, 10,234 earned their first degrees. According to him, some Sh400 million is needed to put up permanent premises for the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) at Bungo outside Dar es Salaam. Another Sh30billion will be required for rehabilitation and upgrading of regional centres and coordination of distance learning across the country. He said he was optimistic the on-going talks between the government and the World Bank will reach fruition and enable the Bretton Wood institution to provide money for the purpose. Dr Migiro said open and distance learning was key to education development in the country. thecitizen.co.tz/News/Man-beats-odds-to-earn-degree-at-74/-/1840392/2602310/-/1332umv/-/index.html
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 08:19:44 +0000
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