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