Does the President Know that He is the University Chancellor?
By Heskey Deng Machol
Since then, if you views the South Sudan universities situation, you can wrap up that, there is no chancellor, only Minister for Higher Education and vice chancellors without Chancellor, who are always rang bell for the university improvement but no responding, more so the five public universities are so inequality and more importantly, ineffective and undeveloped, with quantity education, not equality, while it is well-known worldwide that, the president is also the chancellor, watchdog to the university systems but our president put deaf ear on the ground.
I think, our President, hadn’t been aware/informed that, He is chancellor, if the President is/was being vigilant, then it wouldn’t be time for our public universities to be deprived and undeveloped, in term of qualified lecturers, good educational systems, university physical infrastructure and environmental structure, there will be no wasting of years so more. President {we} knew before that, education is one of the key problems that make Southerners to take arms against the Khartoum regime, when Arab denied Southerners to enrol in good universities, so are we far from them now? Why do you {president} so hush and fail the universities.
Realistically, if you look at Juba University, as a first university to be planted on the South Soil and later followed by Wau and Upper Nile Universities, and sooner by Rumbek and Dr. John Garang Memorial University, you can be shock and disappointed, even beating your chest fatally with great sorrow, aren’t look like universities, look like old kitchens of eighteen century built by Asian, with old building, {rusting iron sheet}, limit lecturing room, with poor environment that can’t attract any person to pursue his/her diploma/degree in it, only poor and orphan students can copy the situation, no change has been brought by CPA and independence, and we said, we are independence nation, we have the universities, it’s really big challenges to our government, is how our higher learning institution will be, think big!
Sometime the universities are temporally closed by Vice Chancellor with his so called senates, without good reasons, just wasting students’ years, while on the other hand government failed to investigate the root cause of closure, who regulate the Universities? Mr. Chancellor, at this crucial time, you need to establishing and implementing the University educational well, as tools to last part redundant poverty and tribalism.
However, doesn’t mean that, the universities aren’t having lecturers, they have, but they are not enough, some colleges have no lecturers while some lecturers are on the way to check out of teaching because of low payment, they received from the government, which wouldn’t meet his/her professionalism. Like now, the Ministry is admitting students, who will teach them? And no classes to accommodate them, where is way forward if our universities still lack such things, and what do you saying as Chancellor and your government at the same time, if the government is not interesting with higher institution of learning, then it is better to be shutdown, no more university enrollment/intake, so that every students can mind his/her business, then government hoodwink them and wasting their years, it is terrible and discreditable to government, for now some students have already experiences grey hair on theirs’ head, for matter of four years, what remain, just to die in the University, is what the government need. These need strategy-mind, Mr. Chancellor.
As you are Chancellor, Mr. President, then it’s better to work hand in hand with the Vice Chancellors and Minister of Higher Education to change the current surface of five public universities, so that the students will learn in a conducive environment and it can attract foreign students to enroll in our university, in return this can raise the economics of this country in another way, then we rely on oil money.
Mr. President, charity begins at home, that means, you can smart your house before you visit your friend’s house, I always heard, when you pay a trip to East Africa Countries Universities, you contributed/donated money to the students regardless South Sudanese Students or that institution, your hand is free because you are an open heart person, no doubt, but here I wonder you {President} didn’t do that to your own universities, why! Even design one day visit to one of the public universities to inspect the situation, wasn’t there, why do you betray and hated your own universities, or because your children are studying outside, Mr. President.
Of course, to reviewing the past on how the President is chancellor, in 2010 general election, Sudan President Bashir in his political campaigns in North and South Sudan regions, He first visited the University premises, just to scrutinize the university circumstance, then hold talks with students to identify what is lack in the university before He go to the organized rally place, Bashir promised a lot, although He failed to implemented them, just he know that, Sudan will not be same again, but Bashir knew that, the ticket for presidential, Governorship and member of parliament is in the hand of the students, simply students are representative of all the tribes in remote areas, and if the students are pleased, then they are going to be your campaigns agents in their constituencies.
Therefore President, your success is in the universities, that means, your generosity and legacy will geminating in these universities, no elsewhere if you constructing current undeveloped universities into modernization universities, which means, it need your unswerving and engagement to develop the ongoing system in the university, by reviewing university educational curriculum through authorizing the Ministry concerns and Vice Chancellor because the Universities are still using {an} old Sudan educational curriculum, which are already outdated, we need the current modern university educational curriculum in worldwide, but if you remain stillness, then you also silencing the universities.
Moreover, the development of these five public universities is your roles; need your hand and superior minds with your government, as I know so far the Ministry of higher education’s budget will not refurbish the university structure, even paying lecturers. Also the five vice chancellor, whom you appointed them, will do nothing if you are distancing yourself from them.
Furthermore, Mr. The president, if you wish to have equality universities, not quantity and to secure the economics of this country in another way, as you knew, Education is the backbone of the Country, then you and your government must to blueprint the project budget for fix up those universities into standard way, of having qualify lecturers and good environment for learning to ease sending our children to East Africa countries universities and also to magnetize international students.
You can reach the author through his email: <deng.machol@gmail.com>
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