Category: Literacy

Posted on

University of Bahr el Ghazal pushes examinations to next week

The University of Bahr el Ghazal has postponed examinations which were scheduled to start on Monday, 5 December, to 12 December 2022.

This was disclosed by Joseph Lual, the chairperson of the university’s teaching staff association, after a joint meeting with the institution’s administration on Saturday.

Lual said staff will resume work on Friday, 9 December, after the current seven-day sit-in strike comes to an end on Thursday. He, however, warned that the lecturers might go on an indefinite strike after two weeks when the examination a set to be completed in the event the government does not address their grievances.

“We have come out with a good compromise, and we are going to finish this seven-day strike on Thursday and on Friday, all the teaching staff is going to resume their work. We shall also see that the administration reschedules the examinations,” he said. “The acting Vice Chancellor has informed us that the minister of higher education has tabled our issue to the cluster and also gave a copy to the office of the president. So, after two weeks of examinations, if there is nothing, we will go on an indefinite strike.”

Meanwhile, the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for academic affairs, Dr. Peter Atem Deng, confirmed that the examinations will now commence next Monday.

“The examinations at the University of Bahr el Ghazal were supposed to start on 5 December 2022, but there is a technicality that arose that forced the university to unify the exam calendar,” he explained. “The basic science college’s calendar was the one supposed to start on 5 December, and they were pushed to 12 December because there was an abrupt strike by the teaching staff.”

According to Dr. Atem, the university’s administration agreed with the academic staff to conduct the examinations while the government finds a solution to their demands.

On his part, Aguek Akoc, a student who spoke to Radio Tamazuj at the university campus, said most students are not ready for the examinations but agreed to the new date after meeting the academic staff on Sunday.

“The postponement came after the students met with academic staff yesterday (Sunday), and the students were convinced to start exams on 12 December,” he said. “I am happy with the decision because some of the students were not ready for the exams.”

The University of Bahr el Ghazal teaching staff association went on strike last week, demanding the implementation of a new salary structure and enhanced allowances, among others.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Posted on

Education minister inspects schools in Maridi

The National Minister of General Education and Instruction Awut Deng last weekend inspected schools in Maridi County of Western Equatoria State.

While touring Maridi Girls’ Boarding Secondary School, minister Awut promised to provide all necessary learning materials to improve education there.

She also promised to provide lab equipment for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Computer Science as well as facilitate the installation of a solar system and tap water for the students.

“It is our responsibility, this is the second liberation for this country, so the issue of teachers has been addressed and what we want is no ghost schools, no ghost names. We want people to stay in class for eight hours to help us and we will pay them. You don’t have water, I am going to bring water to this school,” she said.

The minister further announced a plan to offer a scholarship for students at the school.

“The second support from the national ministry is this school was identified to be given a scholarship to 75 students,” she added.

Minister Awut further urged all education stakeholders including parents to ensure all children in the county have access to education.

At the same time, Western Equatoria State Governor Alfred Futuyo Karaba said the state is committed to improving education in the state.

He appealed to the national government to support the construction of the proposed Western Equatoria University which will offer scholarships to students in the state.

Minister Awut also visited the Don Bosco Boarding Primary and Secondary and Addu Secondary schools.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Posted on

Sudan’s internal conflicts affecting mediation: official

The current political situation is affecting mediation process with the non-signatories to the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, a senior South Sudanese official disclosed on Monday.

Security Affairs advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime said mediation has stopped because the political situation has taken attention of Sudanese leaders away from the process.

“Consultations are continuing with the non-signatories. We have held several meetings with them to solicit their views on the peace process and they are ready to negotiate but the current political situation in Sudan has taken the attention of the leadership in Sudan,” Manime told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

He added, “This is now what is delaying the start. If it was not because of the current situation in Sudan, the talks would have been concluded a long time”.

According to the presidential aide, the spirit with which the Khartoum government and the non-signatories to the Juba peace process started in 2020 showed commitment to ending the conflict and returning the country on the path of peace and stability.

“Things were moving in a positive way, in the right direction right after the conclusion of the peace talks in Juba and the signing of the agreement. You are aware that the former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the SPLM-N faction leader, Abdel-Aziz Adam al-Hilu met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and signed a Declaration of principles. That was a positive beginning and had the parties maintained that spirit, the talks would have gained strong momentum and peace would have been concluded,” explained Manine.

“The non-signatories would have been brought on board and a comprehensive peace would have been attained in Sudan”, he added.

The South Sudanese official stressed Juba’s role in Sudan’s peace process, saying it seeks to promote good ties in line with international law and neighbourly principles.

The advisor cited Juba’s recent handover of nine prisoners of war to Sudan authorities.

The former captives had illegally a territory controlled by Sudanese rebels (SPLM-N).

“The Misseriya youth were captured and detained as a prisoner of war by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. Due to cordial diplomatic relations between the Sudan People’s Liberation movement North and South Sudan government, his Excellency President Salva Kiir Mayardit mediated the release process of Misseriya shepherd youths through Juba-Khartoum”, stressed Manime.

The SPLM-N is one of the non-signatories of the Juba Peace Agreement, although it signed a Declaration of Principles (DoP) to negotiate with the Khartoum government.

Since then, however, there have been no direct talks, albeit President Salva Kiir, his administration and the African Union have been trying to mediate between the sides.

In 2020, Sudan’s ex- Prime Minister Hamdok and the SPLM-N faction leader, Abdel-Aziz Adam al-Hilu signed a DoP in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The declaration, among other provisions, recognized that “the state shall not establish an official religion and that No citizen shall be discriminated against based on their religion”.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Posted on

Dissolved journalists union resumes activities in Sudan

The Islamist-controlled General Union of Sudanese Journalists (GUSJ) on Saturday officially resumed its activities 3 years after the decision to dissolve it.

After the coup in October 2021, the military-led government gradually reinstated Islamists in the civil service and their groups dissolved by the Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC) tasked with the dismantlement of the former regime.

“The Union has resumed its activity by providing services to journalists,” said Mohamed al-Fatih the acting chairman of the group in a press conference to announce the end of the ban of 2019.

Al-Fatih added that international journalists’ groups expressed concerns over the suspension of the GUSJ by the suspended committee.

He stresses that the ERC decision did not stop their activities during the past period

On August 29, Sudanese journalists elected for the first since 1989, an independent union for Sudanese journalists.

The Islamist journalists of the GUSJ sought to obstruct the electoral process and lodged a complaint saying the newly elected body could not replace their organisation.

The acting chairman said they would start their activities with the renewal of local, Arab, and international press cards of Sudanese journalists.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the dissolved Union, Salah Omer al-Sheikh, said they will strive during the coming period to complete the remaining projects that the Union intends to enforce.

Also, he said that they are preparing to form a steering committee to prepare for the upcoming elections.

In 2020, the prosecution of the ERC issued an arrest warrant against GUSJ head, Sadiq al-Raziqi, who resides in Turkey, over a range of corruption charges.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Posted on

Over 300 youth graduate with GBV skills in Wau

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the national civil society organization, Community Empowerment for Progress (CEPO) on Saturday graduated 320 youth after the completion of a three-month Gender-Based Violence course in Wau town of Western Bahr el Ghazal State.

The 160 males and 160 females selected from different residential blocks by the local leaders were also trained on gender transformation.

While addressing the graduates on Saturday, the state CEPO representative Franco Musa urged the graduates to go and train their communities on the skills they have acquired.

“The training was run by 32 people only but they have managed to train 320 people. So, if the 320 people go and train another 640 people on the same training,” said Franco. “Today you have learned the importance of girls and women within the community whether you are a boy or a girl. I know the girls that received the training will give good awareness to their neighbors and parents on injustices imposed on women by men.”

On her part, the director general in the ministry of youth, culture, and sports, Mary Gabriel said, “I am very happy today to understand that our children have acquired training in leadership skills of which they are able now to train other young ones within the community.”

One of the graduates, Madelena Arkangelo, said: “During the training, I received some changes in my life. The training has given me a good role to play and not to do negative things within my community. I was thinking about our challenges as girls, especially about the lack of money that leads us to suicidal thoughts, but this training has trained me to get out of such thoughts.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Posted on

Hemeti: New school feeding programme to benefit 400,000 students in Sudan

The Vice President of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, has announced a programme of school feeding that will benefit 400,000 students in its first phase.

Addressing the Sudanese School Feeding Initiative, Hemeti he called on all states of Sudan to redouble efforts to take advantage of opportunities to bring the country and citizens out of poverty towards production and economic wellbeing. He said that “the magnitude of the major political, economic, and social challenges that Sudan is facing require unity, social cohesion and helping each other”.

He also called for the immediate start of preparing for a major national project in order to ensure a better future for our children.

He explained that the first phase of the project targets about 400,000 students in the basic, intermediate, and secondary stages. “We will endeavour to transform the school feeding programmes into sustainable national programmes and integrate it into national policies which lean to the vulnerable categories,’ Hemeti said.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, according to a recent report published by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), Sudan’s growing acute food insecurity, recent flooding, and mass displacement as a result of intercommunal conflict, have led to Sudan being classified as a country in ‘crisis’. FEWS NET stated that September’s staple food prices remain 250-300 per cent above respective prices last year, and 550-700 per cent above the five-year average.

Starvation

Working Sudanese are unable to make ends meet, and reports of deaths from starvation have been emerging Sudan in recent months, highlighting a growing food emergency that is spreading from rural to urban areas.

Almost 12 million people – a quarter of Sudan’s population – are currently estimated to be facing acute hunger. That number could reach up to 18 million as the ‘lean season’ ends this month, according to aid agencies – double the figure recorded in 2021.

Source: Radio Dabanga