The chairperson of the Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), Josephine Achiro, has said that the delay in the Media Development Institute’s (MDI) new intake was due to lack of funding.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Achiro denied claims that the Media Authority had suspended MDI, the journalism training branch of AMDISS, for failing to register.
“MDI has not opened this year because of financial constraints. We have been having a donor who has been supporting it 100, but is no longer giving us that support,” Achiro said.
“As a board of directors, we are actually having a negotiation on how MDI should operate. MDI is an academic institution which is supposed to sustain itself by the resources raised through its operations,” she said.
Achiro further said that MDI was charging its students a minimum fee for its basic needs like papers, printing materials and exams administration, but would now rethink the way forward.
Achiro confirmed receiving a summon from the Media Authority two months ago to explain the registration status of MDI.
The Media Authority, she explained, had requested the registration of MDI with the Ministry of Higher Education as an independent training institute.
“I was summoned to the Media Authority as a chairperson to explain the status of MDI because they said MDI was operating under AMDISS, an organization, while it (MDI) is an institute. They wanted us to register MDIs as an institute,” she said.
Achiro said the institute was unable to complete the registration with the Media Authority because of the US$50,000 required.
She, however, said MDI had met all the requirements for registration as an academic institution with Ministry of Higher Education.
Achiro said MDI was currently registered under the Ministry of General Education, Central Equatoria State, offering a one-year advanced certificate in journalism. Once registered with the Ministry of High Education, it will offer a diploma program.
She added that the fate of the institution would be determined after the graduation of the 8 cohort slated for next month.