Delays in exam marking are preventing South Sudanese graduate students from securing international scholarships, particularly in neighboring Ethiopia, according to Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Madut Biar Yel.

In a statement to the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Thursday, Minister Biar blamed delayed payments to exam markers for the holdup.

Without timely compensation, many markers are unable or unwilling to grade on schedule, leaving students with too little time to meet scholarship application deadlines.

Biar also noted that Vice Chancellors have raised concerns about ongoing financial instability, which is straining university operations, hurting staff morale, and diminishing the quality of education.

The past years have seen intermittent protests by public university lecturers over delayed salaries and poor living conditions, interrupting school schedules.

Students have often held strikes due to poor feeding and tuition fee charges. These events have disrupted lecture and exam schedules.

Despite repeated appeals to the national government, funding issues remain unresolved, causing financial hardship for senior academic staff.

To address the issue, Minister Biar plans to meet with Vice Chancellors from public universities to investigate the root causes of these delays. He stressed the importance of engaging directly with lecturers and markers to ensure timely grading in the future.

“We must ensure exams are corrected on time each month so students have enough time to apply for scholarships,” Biar said, adding that the grading delays are harming students’ academic and career prospects.

In a more positive development, Minister Biar announced that Ethiopia has significantly increased scholarship opportunities for South Sudanese students, raising the number from 150 to 645, providing more chances for higher education abroad.