University of Juba campus - (Photo: UoJ).

Students at the University of Juba have expressed mixed reactions over the increased tuition fee and the development fee imposed by the University’s Vice-chancellor.

In November 11, the biggest university in the country doubled most of the tuition fees for various colleges and faculties to raise money for the grand lecture halls.

The public institution seeks to raise $1.16 million from each of the 30,000 students annually.

But James Dhuor, a student said the majority of his colleagues at the University come from poor family backgrounds and they may not be able to afford the fees.

“It is having a very negative impact on us since the majority are students from poor background families of which they cannot manage like for example these fingers of mine are not the same,” Dhuor said.

The student of Social and Economic Studies said the current economic situation of the country has left many families struggling.

Speaking at the fundraising event for the infrastructural development of the public institution on Thursday, Dhuor warns of mass dropout of students.

“The economic situation that has affected the majority of people in the country so in this context when I look at it will affect and result to many students dropping out of the university,”

But another student, Rose Adut welcomes the increment of the tuition fee, saying the development of the university shouldn’t be the work of the Vice Chancellor alone.

Adut said raising money for the modern lecture halls is a collective responsibility of every student.

“I am so happy that the vice-chancellor came up with this because it is going to be our work to develop the university not him alone to chase the money but all of us,” she said.

“Where I am working, the salary I get cannot pay the money that is going to be paid for the next two years remaining but what should I say, my own circumstance cannot stop the movement or the plan the university has already planned.”

Professor Akech started fund mobilization in September this year – when he urged students at the University to dig deeper into their pockets to develop the university for their own benefit.

He said he needed the money to set up a new lecture hall complex to contain a library with 1,000 seats, computer labs, seminar rooms, a supermarket, and food courts, among others.

The university has raised one million, and one hundred and eighteen thousand (1,118,000) United States dollars during a fundraising – as President Salva Kiir made a donation of one million US dollars.

According to Professor John Akec, once he meets the money he requires to fund the development of the facility, the cost of each student will be reduced by ten percent.