The deputy education minister in the South Sudanese government presented to the national legislative assembly on Monday a report seeking approval to raise salaries of lecturers at public universities, asserting that South Sudanese lecturers are underpaid compared to Kenya.

Presenting a report on Monday, Bol Makueng said raising a pay for the lecturers would attract competitive recruitment of professional teaching staff members into public institutions. 

Bol told the parliament that the issue of low pay for lecturers teaching at public universities in the country has forced most of them to leave the profession and either enter politics or go into private sector.

The official cited salary levels in Kenya as significantly higher.

He said the low salaries also limits the lecturers' effectiveness saying “they cannot do the academic duties like research in their own offices. They cannot travel to attend conferences abroad. They cannot even manage their families. So, they are not happy to go and teach.”

Bol's report was referred to the specialized committees on public service, justice and finance for scrutiny. The committee members will gather inputs from different stakeholders before returning to the house with a report for second deliberations.