Are we paranoid about Ph.D. qualification in the South Sudanese society?
By William Abur, Melbourne, Australia
October 30, 2016 (SSB) — As a son of South Sudan who grows up watching the destruction of our brothers and elders who hold Ph.D. qualifications in South Sudan and who also considered take my own study of the Ph.D. project as a Ph.D. candidate. It came to my attention that many people in our society are clearly paranoid or mistrusting the young generations who considering studying Ph.D. I have encountered some good conversations within some honest people who made some courageous about as a Ph.D. career in our South Sudanese society.
Some of my friends reminded me about the role of Ph.D. holders such as Dr. Riek and Dr. Lam Akol, just to mention a few. It is clear that major of our People have lost interest in a Ph.D. career because of the destructive political played by the above mentioned Ph.D. holders. Yes, their supporters are entitled to disagree with me on this point. I’m also happy for them to make their arguments.
The main aim of this essay is to highlight the contribution of Ph.D. holders in any society. People who have Ph.D. qualifications are expected to make contributions in research and academic teaching. They are expected to carry out research works and come up with policies that can assist leaders in decision making in order to address critical issues in facing society such health and social issues. Yes, they can be a politician if they choose that career because politic is an easy job to do in many parts of the world.
However, as a person who considered to take the Ph.D. project, I do believe that our society do need qualified people to make useful contributions in developing research projects to assist our society in progressing the expected level development. I think South Sudanese who are holding their Ph.D. qualifications should leave politics and join research institutions to explore areas of cultural, linguistic, scientific, and pedagogical (educational) and communication etcetera
I think research area has been clearly neglected in South Sudanese because of ignorance and because of the ongoing conflict in the country. I also believe that our young generation have moral responsibilities and duties not to discourage themselves from considering Ph.D. studies if you are capable of taking such a hard project and if you have the resources to do so. Our society does need people with such qualifications in order to position ourselves globally.
Let’s not be blindfolded by the few individuals who choose to follow the politic of destructions with their Ph.D. qualifications and cause more troubles in society. Let’s not be emotional or paranoid about them because it can only lower our expectations and demote our society in the global market. We can only go higher when they go low, if I can borrow this phrase from Michelle Obama. Thanks for taking your time to read this piece of the essay.
William Abur is a PhD candidate at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, finishing his PhD research in areas of social work and sociology. He is also a social worker working in high school in student well-being area. You can reach via his email: William Abur william.abur@gmail.com
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