The Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor said her administration has not raised tuition fees.
“For us we maintain our roles. Student fees, we maintain it. We have not increased,” said Vice Chancellor Julia Aker Duany in an interview with Radio Tamazuj in Bor on Monday, April 3.
“What has really increased are the services fees. Fees like examination, library, student ID fees – these are things which have increased,” Duany explained.
According to her this increased service fees sum up to “more than SSP 3,000 – so if you add it up with real students fees it shot up to SSP 7,000”.
A group of students hold demonstrations against raised tuition fees at the Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology in Bor on Thursday, March 30. The protesting students called for the removal of the vice chancellor and her deputy.
A student representative, who prefers to remain anonymous, said that the protestors were angered by the high tuition fees. “What prompted the strike is the fee. We requested to lift this fee but they refused,” he said.
The fees were increased from SSP 2,000 to SSP 7,000, according to the students, who accused the administration of turning the university into a private business.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Higher Education issued a list of tuition fees for all public universities on October 6, 2016. The list was intended to avoid rising tuition fees, making higher education more affordable for students and their parents.
University Teaching Staff Chairperson, Dr. James Nyok Deng, immediately suspended all lectures on Thursday, March 30. “The Office of the Teaching Staff Association suspended classes due to this confusion until further notice,” he said.
A fact finding committee from the Ministry of Higher Education in Juba arrived on Friday, March 31, and held meetings with the university administration and the state governor, among other officials.
Duany said the problem has to be solved in Juba. “The VC has the power to close down the university within 72 hours. Now the 72 hours have elapsed and since the issue is already with the Ministry of Higher Education, I am waiting for their call.”
Meanwhile, the university remains in a state of limbo – bringing learning at one of only five national universities in South Sudan to a standstill.
Photo: The Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor, Julia Aker Duany, talking to Radio Tamazuj in Bor on April 3, 2017. (Radio Tamazuj)