What next for South Sudan’s beleaguered higher education?
Shortcomings are understandable in a country that only gained its independence two years ago. But the clock is ticking. Quick decision making is needed to help South Sudan catch up with the rest of the world.
In a presentation on higher education to the National Legislative Assembly days before July’s reshuffle, Dr. Adwok Nyaba, former Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology, suggested the ministry was well aware of the crippling problems facing higher education institutions.
The ministry must design other avenues for funding the higher education system to produce the skills necessary.”
He signalled that South Sudan cannot solve these problems alone in times of austerity: The state can’t continue this generosity and therefore higher education must be a shared responsibility between the state and the students, parents and guardians. This does not contradict the principle of accessibility but the ministry must design other avenues for funding the higher education system to produce the skills necessary for socio-economic development of the country.”
Also, he correctly noted that the colleges of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Health Sciences in both Bahr el-Ghazal (which only has four teaching staff) and Upper Nile (only three teaching staff) cannot function, explaining why there has been no teaching in the institutions since 2011. Now a Ministerial Order has affiliated these colleges to the College of Medicine in the University of Juba.
Despite complaints from the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Bahr el-Ghazal this step serves national interests. It should be a priority to ensure students complete their studies so they can go on to help society. How can it be that medical students have not been able to attend classes for years?
University staff who, according to a report in The Citizen newspaper, will lose their jobs due to the move, should be incorporated into the academic staff of the University of Juba, which is already struggling to serve its students.
Prof. John Gai Yoh, the new Minister for Education, speaking to the graduates of the College of Law last week, voiced some hard facts: A lot of government money was spent over the last few years in support to students in other countries while many high school students have not able to attend universities which are closed due to lack of resources.
What is important here is that everyone is aware of the education sector’s problems. But if former ministers knew the challenges and so does the new minister, why is there a general lack of courage to face these challenges? What should happen next?
There are no easy solutions to the above problems inherited from Sudan. Among the possibilities, the report on higher education reiterated that the nation is working towards implementing a student loans scheme to share the cost of improving higher education.
However, here we need action to avoid wasting more time. We are in the third quarter of the year and although the idea of student loans has been on the table for a long time, little has been done. The Universities of Bahr el-Ghazal and Juba closed in September 2012 and March 2013, respectively, and it remains uncertain when they will open again.
The fact that education is free is crippling the higher education system. Free things are subject to abuse because they are taken for granted and mishandled. A large proportion of university students in South Sudan may be more than willing to pay for higher education. At least then they will be able to finish their degrees as planned, rather than being shut out of class for months or years at a time.
And waiting for the state to provide a good free education would take too long.
We must build our education system based on the principles of the liberation struggle: freedom, justice, equality and prosperity.”
Given the financial constraints, the government should encourage private investors to build facilities that will offer services to students at affordable prices. In the long run, the investors will get the profit they deserve.
We have been in the throes of an economic recession ever since our oil export was switched off. Meals have been halved and savings are dwindling. The government is implementing serious austerity measures to keep institutions functional until revenue options are found. This is necessary and it is a reality we need to face up to.
But regardless of the current difficulties, education is vital. This was articulated by the new minister: Education is for nation-building […]. We must build our education system based on the principles of the liberation struggle: freedom, justice, equality and prosperity.”
Surely, there is no way a nation can develop without human resource development through the education sector. But the government cannot shoulder all the responsibilities of building a nation from scratch. But provided there is hard work, everything is possible.
