October 6th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s National Transitional Legislative Assembly has accused the Ministry of Higher Education of lacking transparency in allocating scholarships to South Sudan students studying abroad saying scholarships are allocated based on relationships.
In the past, students complained of being rejected when applying for scholarships even when they are qualified for.
The Chairperson of the South Sudan Parliamentary Committee for Information said the Committee for Education at the Transitional Legislature said there is no transparency in the allocation of government scholarships following complaints from the public that the selection of students to study abroad is announced to the public after the deadline raising questions whether officials at the ministry of higher education are not choosing their relatives.
“The minister was summoned to draw some light on the distribution of the scholarships. There is no equity and there is no transparency when coming to government scholarships,” Paul Yoane, the Chairperson of parliamentarian committee for Education said.
He said some MPs suggested that scholarships should be distributed based on the number of states with some suggesting that it should be be based on selection based on merit.
“There are also suggestions that the government scholarships should be distributed according to the number of states, and some are of the opinion that it should be an open competition whereby students compete based on merits,” he said.
However, Yoane added that the main concern is whether the scholarships should be announced once received from the source.
“But the biggest concern is that the ministry should advertise these scholarships once received,” he added.
