Spotlight: Higher education in S. Sudan struggling to achieve standards

Despite promises of revamping it to achieve effectiveness, higher education in South Sudan's five public universities remains far below quality standards from lack of enough academic materials to crowded lecturer rooms.

A few years back since independence from Sudan in 2011, the government liberalized higher education, which has been counterproductive, with allegations of briefcase education institutions offering substandard academic transcripts and services in Juba.

This has compromised quality learning and also exposed the lacuna in regulation by the nascent National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) despite glaring weaknesses in the government-run universities.

South Sudan in over five years has been allocating less than 6 percent budget to education, with the military taking the lion share of 40 percent due to insecurity and conflict.

Experts on education say the trend must change for the betterment of higher learning in the country that has a dismal 27 percent literacy rate out of an estimated population of 12 million people.

Minister of Higher Education Adwok Nyaba says higher education has registered low standards due to lack of enough budget support and quality regulation as many private universities have taken advantage of existing loopholes to operate.

"The most fundamental challenge is money that is why we cannot realize our dream of higher education that is relevant to our needs in South Sudan," he told Xinhua in an interview in Juba on Tuesday.

He added many quack universities are offering low quality education and fake certificates to unsuspecting individuals.

The minister further related the performance decline in the five public universities in the country to the economic challenges stemming from the more than two years of civil conflict.

The economic hardship leading to about 300 percent inflation amid high exchange rate of the U.S dollar trading, with the South Sudanese Pounds at as high as 42 in June. It has demoralized civil servants and lecturers in public universities who have gone on strike over delayed salaries and promised bonuses.

The strike in May has paralyzed higher learning as the lecturers and government are locked in a deadlock while students can't sit in exams and attend lectures.

The strike continues despite an order issued by the minister of higher education for lecturers to resume duty.

"It is very unreasonable for lecturers to continue with the strike being aware of the economic challenges in the country. There is no money and they are not the only civil servants affected by the crisis," Nyaba disclosed in his letter addressed to the striking lecturers.

However, Philip Finish, the spokesman for the lecturers in five public universities, maintains that they will only teach after government pays them salaries for three months and bonuses.

"The strike is still on until we get assurances from authorities on our demands. We don't want to hurt anybody but we instead want guarantee from the government on what is due to us," he said.

He said the glaring problems affecting higher education to go beyond are not just poor remuneration of staff, but also dilapidated infrastructure, lack of research and overcrowding.

Finish disclosed that academic staff cannot carry out research, poorly stalked libraries and laboratories due to lack of funding amid overcrowded lecturer rooms due to the ever surging number of students are some of the causes of low quality education.

John Akec, Vice Chancellor of Juba University, said the institution requires 400,000 U.S dollars to refurbish its dilapidated buildings and replenish its laboratories and research centers.

"We have a master plan to build huge facilities with car parks, recreation, lecture halls and laboratories," he said. Enditem