Fate of South Sudanese students in Egypt must be determined quickly!
6 min readBy Sunday de John, NAIROBI, KENYA
July 31, 2015 (SSB) — When it comes to reality, the pride of a nation ought to be projected by presence of robust and competent workforce. The feasibility that such a competent workforce becomes available is through going to school and perhaps going to school very well. To strengthen our dire workforce, the well-wishers have sacrificed their scarce resources to help create or add value to the success of this fledgling nation.
Coupled with their national interests, Egypt took upon itself the leading role of giving chances to South Sudanese students on the basis of availability and merit. The fact that South Sudan is a virgin nation with widely varied resources has attracted adequate possibilities including opportunities on educational sector.
As a well-wisher, Egypt through her successive governments have been philanthropically giving South Sudanese potential students a chance to enter into their prestigious Universities such as University of Cairo, American University in Cairo, Ain Shams University amongst many others. This is a good will.
However, the government of South Sudan should be commended for having brokered deals of such kinds for the benefit of the country. Without taxing on the good job done by the government, it should be noted with concern that the other crucial aspect that should be brought to light is that, scholarships given to South Sudanese by countries such as Egypt and many others do not necessarily come as complete packages such as complete tuition fee, accommodation and pocket money.
Instead, they come in shreds such as tuition and partial scholarships where students lack tickets to transport themselves back on holidays or possibly get accommodated until the schools reopened.
Cognizant of this fact, it should of course be emphasized that most South Sudanese students cannot afford to even sponsor themselves for a nice meal, the government took it upon herself that there would be tokens to be given to students and particularly to those in Egypt. The token of money was calculated in the interest of upkeep that shall be as minimal as 100 dollars monthly per every single student so as to keep them (students) morally on course in tandem with principles of care.
That was a great task at hand and it has to be appreciated on count that it was helpful to students and possibly it was keeping them from becoming wearied with hard academic challenges that ought to be overcome on time for the good of the failing nation. However, the recent protest that puts students to be residents of the Embassy where they sleep on or under the carpets is tainting our image abroad as a nation.
Clad with lack of concern from leadership up there and the fact that scarcity of resources following recent war is belittling the state, it is necessary to treat the needful with pertinent upholding of standards. Creating excuses on the obvious is an oblivion that is of course disgusting. Note it well.
The government through her ministry of education shouldn’t defend herself by creating false impressions other than coming out clearly. Such tokens of money to future national workforce are by far better than what ministers have been stashing abroad in their personal accounts. Crediting thieving officials in the expense of peasants isn’t credible. Giving tokens to needy students is by far better than Independence Anniversary celebration and it is even better than that amount being spent on consistent but ceaseless travels to Addis Ababa where unpalatable peace agreement is being brokered.
It was advisably incoherent with norms of good parenthood for our leaders to write to those students that the tokens they used to get weren’t pertinent rights, hence would anytime be terminated with concomitant bitter insults that students shouldn’t even demand for it. It is disgustingly shameful to unbelievably terminate students’ support when they are at the peak of their academic struggle in the name of war. It is even more of an insult to refer to their demands as not rights with concomitant threats of asking the police to dislodge them from the Embassy.
Responsible parents ensure that children get the best treatment they can afford to accord them. Responsible parents don’t use circumstantial happenstances as reasons of terminating long-term plans. An agreement with such students shouldn’t be dishonored and therefore the government has to find money by all necessary means to bailout those students from continuous sleeping under carpets. They aren’t rats to sleep in the Embassy’s aisles. They are human beings that should be accorded respect and even treated with dignity.
It is my pertinent wish that these young future leaders unreservedly be given the due money even if it means stopping other national projects. They are a priority. They are even a better priority. Hopes that their parents will intervene aren’t realistic and would equally wither because some of the students are either orphans or children of poor parents leaving under poverty and more so in the remote rural areas.
One ought not to rely on such struggling parents for a rescue especially when some government officials have been channeling dollars to the black-market leaving the peasants to swim against unbearably dangerous current of poverty. Even if one parent can afford to sell a goat or two, how would that low goat’s money reach Egypt or elsewhere and the dollar rates have gone above the rooftop?
Although 20 or so former or current ministers have stolen our resources, it is necessary that the few students who are in schools today be prevented from dropping out. That again is my pertinent wish. Keep students in schools; disallow them from dropping out.
As well, at stake are those other students in Khartoum, amidst engraved sufferings they have intentionally gone back there simply because they wanted education, right education. The one we don’t offer in the Republic of South Sudan! Since they have gone hunting for what we deem a national requirement, hiring hostels for them is a prerequisite.
It is worthless the act of keeping some heartless government officials in luxurious hotels. It is ludicrous or ridiculous simply because it isn’t better than keeping a student that shall offer better services to the nation as permanent resident of the Embassy aisles. Why retaining a formidable thief in an expensive hotel in the expense of a student that holds the door keys to the national prosperity?
I am not emphasizing that students are better than our current ministers; rather I am of the opinion that such deadwoods (the former) that only hope for more loots aren’t better than those that would propel the nation to the world stage. It is a pertinent wish of every elder to see into it that he is planning for a lasting legacy and hence our legacy-deficient uncles must know that students are part of their brazenly falling legacy. I hope this finds you well?
But remember, the fate of South Sudanese students in Egypt must be determined promptly. Yours truly, Mr. Teetotaler!
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