The striking teaching staff at the University of Bahr el Ghazal in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, have suspended their strike and formed a committee to negotiate with higher education ministry officials in Juba.
Joseph Lual Dario, the chairperson of the university’s teaching staff union, told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that the lecturers’ strike has been suspended until further notice. The committee will be part of a coalition with other public universities that will meet the education ministry officials.
“Concerning the seven-day strike that we had proposed, it is now pending because we are going to open ways and knock on the doors of the national ministry of high education and others in Juba. We still demand our rights and the strike will continue,” he explained. “Today (Tuesday) we had a consultation meeting with the general assembly and came out with a resolution to join hands with other universities and it was a plan that the University of Bahr el Ghazal should lead in the strike.”
According to Lual, the other public universities who are part of the coalition have already arrived in Juba.
“Members from the University of Rumbek, University of Upper Nile, and other universities are waiting for us, and tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be in Juba with other members of the academic staff associations to join together as a coalition. We have to push so that our rights on (enhanced) salary scale is realized,” Lual said.
Last week, the University of Bahr el Ghazal teaching staff went on strike to demand for the implementation of the new enhanced salary structure which factored in inflation, medical coverage, flight tickets, and training for the teaching staff.