Eleven education officials in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State’s Aweil North County have been suspended from their posts, a move that has been criticised as “unlawful” by a local lawmaker.
The suspensions were ordered by Aweil North County Commissioner, Deng Kuel Kuel, on Tuesday.
Those affected include the County Education Director, Abraham Garang Jeluel, his deputy, six area education supervisors, and three senior teachers.
No official reason for the suspensions has been made public.
When contacted by Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Commissioner Deng Kuel Kuel confirmed the action but declined to give details, describing it only as an “administrative issue.”
He warned journalists against further investigation into the matter.
The suspended Education Director, Abraham Garang Jeluel, said he was informed of his suspension without explanation.
“I was just told to hand over the office to anyone of my staff and wait until I am told what are further details,” Jeluel said, adding that the reasons for the suspensions were “not clear” to him.
The decision has drawn criticism from Northern Bahr el Ghazal State lawmaker, William Wel Deng, who questioned the commissioner’s authority to suspend the officials.
“This is an unlawful suspension because it happened at a critical time when the pupils and students are taking their exams,” Wel said.
“I am worried about who will supervise the exams? This is a bad decision taken by our commissioner and we are against it because it is unlawful.”
However, the Director General for the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Ministry of Education and Instruction, Velantino Anei Deng, presented a different account.
He stated on Thursday that the suspension matter had already been “resolved by the ministry,” though he did not provide specific details on the outcome or whether the officials had been reinstated.
The suspensions come amid recent tensions over education in the county.
Last week, more than 350 pupils were reportedly denied the chance to sit their end-of-year exams because they had not paid newly introduced fees.
It remains unclear whether the suspensions of the education officials are linked to this incident.