President Salva Kiir and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during meeting in Cairo, on Monday November 6, 2023 - Credit: Office of the President

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has relaxed education policy on South Sudanese students that discourages admission of 18-year-old students to universities.

That’s according to Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Pitia Morgan.

Minister Dr Morgan says this was resolved during President Salva Kiir’s recent visit to Egypt where he met with his Egyptian counterpart El Sisi.

The diplomats say the Egyptian government recently came up with a policy that only allows the admission of 19 and above year-year-old students to the universities.

Dr Morgan says following the decision, the government had planned to send the Minister of General Education, but because it was a sovereign decision, President Kiir opted to meet his counterpart to resolve the issues.

This is because, the Minister said, the move could affect South Sudanese students at the age of 18 who intend to join Egyptian universities, especially those seeking Egyptian scholarships.

During Kiir’s visit, Dr Morgan said the matter was resolved between the two leaders.

“As friendly countries, our President had travelled to Egypt where our students would be affected. As a result of his visit, the problem was resolved by the two leaders,” said Dr. Morgan.