The Teaching Staff of Juba University say they are continuing with their open pay strike until the ministry of higher education meets their demands.

This comes a few days after the staff stopped lectures last week over salary arrears.
The allowances, which sum up to about 11 million South Sudanese pounds, include annual air transport and medical allowances.

On the 26th of May, the government formed a committee to look into the demands of the academic staff.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor John Akech, urged the teaching staff to call off the strike.

He said that government has offered to pay the workers one month salary and promised to pay the remaining next week.

But the chairperson of the teaching staff, Prof. Philip Apollo said the ministry is yet to respond to their demands.

“They said the minister of Higher education will prepare all these demands and will present it to the minister finance, and according to their meeting they will inform the representatives of the public university with the result of the meeting and based on that we can take our decision.

But up to now we did not get any feedback from the competent authorities…,” he said.

Mr. Akech said “lectures are not going on until” they “get notification from the higher education,” after which they will sit and discuss their next move.

Meanwhile, the minister of higher education says the teaching staff should sympathize with the economic crisis the country is going through.

Dr. Peter Adwok urges the staff should resume work.

“They should be patriotic and consider the situation, because they are politicizing it and that makes the problem,” Adwok Nyaba told Eye Radio during an interview.