Dr. David Fugoyo, the Vice Chancellor of Africa Renewal University in Uganda - Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio | April 1, 2022

A South Sudanese scholar in Uganda has called on the government to improve the quality of basic school education by employing qualified teachers with better pay.

Dr. David Fugoyo, the Vice Chancellor of Africa Renewal University in Uganda, says a good number of South Sudanese students have done extremely well or excellent in Uganda.

However, he told Eye Radio exclusively that poor foundation of basic education has partly contributed to low performance among some South Sudanese students intending to study in the region.

“There are South Sudanese who have done extremely well or excellent. They have a good GPA [Grade Point Average]. Some of them close to four, some of them four point something, close to five. Some of them have three points,” Fugoyo said.

“There are also those who are really very poor. Speaking English is a problem, writing English is a problem. They said they completed senior four and sometimes we get to doubt that because of the way they perform.

“I have taught some of them and I would look at what they write and it doesn’t make sense at all. Some of them have been put on suspension, some of them have actually been discontinued.”

In January last year, a former U.S Envoy to South Sudan called for more investment in the education sector to allow children to have access to the service.

According to the General Education Act of 2012, basic education “must be free and compulsory” to all children in the country.

Dr. David Fugoyo argues that South Sudan is yet to strengthen its basic education sector.

“In South Sudan, we need to be very serious with education not only in high school but even from kindergarten this is where it starts.

“If you lose or if you miss the foundation you are supposed to have in education, it will be very hard for you to establish that foundation when you grow up or when you get to high school.

“I would really ask our government and even the owners of private schools in South Sudan to make sure that they hire people who are qualified to do the work they are doing.

“If you have qualified teachers and you pay them I think they will do a good job and that will be reflected in the kind of the people they will produce.”

Dr. Fugoyo has so far managed to offer scholarships to nearly 200 South Sudanese students to study various fields at the Africa Renewal University.

He became the first South Sudan’s Vice Chancellor in 2015 to lead a higher learning institution in the neighboring Uganda.