Articles and Analysies
Roaring contribution of 5 Dollars for South Sudan University student in Egypt . BY: Daniel Wuor Thonker, EGYPT
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Dec 26, 2009 - 11:15:51 PM

Roaring contribution of 5 Dollars for South Sudan University student in Egypt .

BY: Daniel Wuor Thonker , EGYPT

Rumors have sparked up in the internet and among Southern Sudanese students about the call made in SPLM Diaspora and southsudannation.com (letters) about the problem affecting South Sudanese students in the Eleven Universities and three higher institutes of the Arab republic of Egypt . It has open a hot verbal debate among the students and also in the internet, while the saddest part of it, is the reply of our European and American Sudanese brothers and sisters who were hardly hurt by the pain that was uttered by Simon Obengi in his two-paragraph brainwave leading to �a roaring contribution of 5 dollars for south Sudan University Student in Egypt�.

Mr.Obeng�s opinion was reported as saying that, �Since the academic year began three months ago for University students in Egypt , Southern Sudan University Students did not get their bursaries." He continued by saying that Southern Sudanese students have difficulties in purchasing school materials, they lack transportation from students� residences to the Universities; students are missing labs due to lack of equipments and other safety requirements����.and his list goes on.

The initiator of the contribution comments by saying, �This is a dire situation our students are undergoing through in Egypt �. What a great untidiness per se, in fact this piece of writing was outrageous to me in the manner the rumor was taking and not the reaction of those who wanted to contribute in order to salvage the situation as they aver.

Just after the overwhelming clout that was launched by the same students that brought about the high level delegation in the parliament on the same whine which was tail-painted by a dirty game politic among students that was almost dragging the so-called GoSS�s first born fruits into house to house favor.

In my own view; I think that is not true that we are suffering to that extent, though fatalities may be there. I don�t believe in that even if money is being loved by everybody including me, that would not let me deny the fact that we are being cared and fully supported by our government not to mention the little assistance that we are handed from the Egyptian government. I would also be very sorry to have contradicted Mr. Simon but because he was too general that his statement included me, hence for that matter I would somewhat disagree with him. In fact there is no joking here, this is scholarship, though there are shortcomings from the dispenser (Egyptians), our government did not abandon us. Why do we need to dispose that fact?

To this extent I would like to shade light on few things that he might have misspelled out to spark the ears of my readers on to this this roaring contribution. In fact, firstly the scholarship was in this formula;

1.      Status of the scholarship.

Prima facie; the scholarship that brought about south Sudanese students to Egypt today was said be an earlier agreement between the South Sudan government inter alia Egyptian government at the earlier age of the CPA. It is a part of a bilateral agreement that was fulfilled by Egypt in order to run a flat liaison between South and Egypt and our Northern counterpart. The Pharaoh family awards the CPA with the overwhelming number of the students that was hardly ever to be found in southern Sudan if the North-South Sudan border was not opened. It was not easy for many of us who had not been far from their parents for many years to put up with the new atmosphere but the Anya-nya bear it.

2.      Admission

As an institution established by laws and the constitution in Egypt, it was not an easy thing to enter in to it as a man or woman who had not been to such system, due to the long chain one had to under go as a foreigner, but our government had foreseen this and they had to send a representative of the ministry of Education. When things went out of hand with the former students� coordinator, he was   treated like an asylum seeker, student were charged for books, medical fees, lab equipments, and hostels required money as it was not a scholarship. He had to run up and down, students acted independently.

3.      GOSS Reaction

In no time our government intervened, the apartments were rented, pocket money was brought on monthly basis and in not less than three months the increment of $50 to $100 was agreed and passed unanimously by the parliament from that time to date. The�wafideen� or the ministry of foreign affairs the education branch in Egypt did not cease to give us our $ 53 Dollars that they have agreed to cater for us on condition you prove to them that you are a committed student. What else do we need to complain from? What I view here is the misuse of individual funds when sometimes we condemn our government of misusing of the public funds yet leave ourselves out. I don't see a reason here of calling for any assistance when our government is not forgetting us in all its business or else campaigning for our brothers and sisters who are left out there without seeing the light of education in South Sudan should be the best idea to crusade about.

4.      Delay of the students� bursaries

Per contra, the delay of the students� bursaries in South Sudan is not something secret but a know fact in the broad daylight. This is clear with all the civil servants, the police, nurses, military and teachers. Why? Just simply because of the result of the Khartoum �s policy of delaying the GOSS budget and their inaccurate figures of the oil share.

This is simply just a technique to frustrate all of us from trusting our government (GOSS) so as to grumble, moan, grouse, protest and complain and finally haul out bad words and even betray the government in a negative manner. So if we know that the problem is not the government of southern Sudan , then why don�t we see that? Another area that led to the delay of money is the recession that let to the diminished oil prices in the oil market, so it is also clear beyond doubt that we should not grumble without reason.

Since the academic year began three month ago, we did not receive our bursaries, said Ubengi. I may say that it is a complicated statement that I will not criticize but analyze. It was March this year, when the former coordinator (Antony Loperito) was replaced by the later Mr. Santo Malek and definitely the increment of the bursaries. This was when GoSS introduced a system of a double payment whereby a number of months is payout or pay later. This goes on either in a negative or positive ideal, that means that you can be paid more months ahead or stay without being pay and later on to be paid all or less as we have just recently had for our bursaries. Our payments began fluctuating from March to October till recently in December. So who can be blamed here? END