The University of Juba has Transformed for Better under Dr. John Akech
By Malith Alier, Juba, South Sudan
June 30, 2015 (SSB) — The Vice Chancellors of the five public Universities in the republic were reshuffled last year by the country’s president and the Chancellor of the universities. The five public universities are University of Juba, Bhar El Ghazel, Upper Nile, Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology and University of Rumbek.
The University of Juba was headed by Aggrey Abate while John Akec was somewhere heading the University of Northern Bhar El Ghazel which is now a project.
A visit to the University of Juba on 29.6.2015 tells me that some fundamental changes are underway in the first university of the country. This institution of higher learning was founded in mid seventies immediately after the Addis Ababa peace accord. The University was transferred to Khartoum during the second civil war in the south. It only returned in the years from 2005 through to 2011.
This is not the first visit to the institution. This author had several encounters with the institution as earlier as 2009. At that time the university looked tired and worn out something reminiscent of the long devastating civil war.
The University buildings are of stone made walls and so is the perimeter fence measuring many meters. The main campus is sandwiched by four roads to south, north, west and east. This is the Atlabara campus. The university has other campuses but our focus is on the main one above where the administration of the university is located.
The western gate entrance leads one to the administration building. This is where one is greeted by a number of flags including that of South Sudan. In front of the building are many beautifully lined flower beds covered by new soil – a sign of new work on them. Previously none existed in there. Deeper inside the building, fresh work is in progress. Numerous new flower vases are spotted in the corridors down and upstairs.
For the first time, the University staffs are seated at their desks waiting to direct the visitors wherever they want to go. I was directed upstairs to the graduate studies office as requested. I went straight there and found a lovely lady perusing in her handbag. We salute each other. I was given an application form along with a lovely brochure for a post graduate diploma or Master Degree for the academic year 2015/2016 well printed on.
Also for the first time the University is not receiving cash payment directly. It has become a cashless institution. It required prospective students or clients to pay fees and other charges through a bank account. This is a welcome departure from the norm. It however, reminded me of a time when I lost my student identity card and had to go the university for replacement. There, the front desk officer directed me to pay a ten dollar note through a machine and just presented a receipt for the replacement card. This is also become a reality at the University of Juba, thanks to Professor Akec.
The university had also been throwing out lectures on various topics through its centre of peace and development studies. Some of these lectures are good and may be life changing endeavours by the institution. I attended one on South Sudan foreign policy some time earlier in the year. That lecture was well presented by the ever smart minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Marial Benjamin. Several other lectures are announced on radio every other month on end.
All the five public universities in the country should take leave and borrow one or two from our leading University of Juba if they aspire to attain a national stature. It is not simply to build an institution from scratch and expect phenomenal results from mediocre efforts. It takes time, patience and sacrifice to build something worthwhile in the face of scarce resources like ours.
It is not only the public universities who should emulate the University of Juba but also other government institutions like ministries which are usually full of workers but are lackadaisical in service delivery. Go the y ministry and ask for something and you will be told that eh I do know about that or the one in charge of that is away or he/she went for funeral.
The other day the five public universities got a boost when the ministry of Higher Education presented a raise in salaries and approved by lawmakers. This is something the lecturers who have been meagrely paid in the past lowering the quality of learning in the country badly deserved. With the new salary scale approved the south Sudanese public will attract the best teachers who hitherto stayed away from them because of poor pay and conditions.
A university is a place of learning and excellence. It is a place of research and understanding. Those who go to the university should come out with clear understanding of issues affecting them and their people and should be able to prescribe solutions to those problems in time. They should also emerge from those universities with refreshing memory of the journey they went through in form of the quality institution they attended. This is simply what john Akec is doing. All in all thumbs are up for the University of Juba.
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