Kiir holds meeting with vice chancellors. (Photo: Office of the President/Facebook).

President Salva Kiir, the Chancellor of Public Universities, held talks with vice chancellors to discuss what was termed as pressing challenges facing higher learning institutions, amid recurrent strike by lecturers and staff over one year of no salaries.

The meeting provided a platform for university leaders to present their concerns and seek solutions to the “mounting difficulties that public institutions are currently grappling with” in the areas of financing and human resource allocation, a statement said.

The Office of the President said Kiir expressed a “strong commitment” to address the financial shortfalls and other challenges that hinder the growth and development of public universities.

“The Head of State also assured the Vice Chancellors that his administration recognizes the importance of these institutions in shaping the future of the nation and is working on a comprehensive strategy to support them in the face of economic pressures.”

University of Juba Vice Chancellor Professor Robert Mayom is said to have lauded the president’s willingness to address the setbacks facing higher learning institutions and noted that this approach would pave the way for much-needed reforms in the education sector.

Staff and lecturers from some public universities have staged a series of strikes and demonstrations to draw attention to the non-payment of their 11-month salary arrears and other incentives.

The Academic Staff Association and Workers Trade Union at the University of Bahr el Ghazel declared an indefinite strike since October which they said will only be called off after their 11-month salary arrears are cleared by the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

In the same month, the staff and students at the Rumbek University of Science and Technology threatened protests and strike if the institution’s feeding program is not resumed and lecturers do not receive their arrears in seven days.

Civil servants and organized forces have gone for a year without being paid in what has been blamed on an economic crisis caused by the rapture of oil pipeline – but which President Kiir attributed to the mismanagement of non-oil revenue by finance officials.

The dwindling oil export, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the national revenue, left South Sudan currency severely weakened against the US dollar, triggering a sharp increase in commodity prices and leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.