By William Madouk
At least 367 students, on Saturday, graduated from Starford International University, South Sudan in various fields of study.
The grandaunts were from fields of Computer sciences, Law, economics, management and school of journalism among others.
They were awarded with diplomas and bachelor’s degrees during the third convocation that comprised of 264 males and 103 females.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony, Dium Cyer Cyer, the pioneer and chairman of the Board of Directors of the university, said the graduates would now go and filled the skilled human resource gap in the country.
He also cited that they would make sure that vital services are provided such as the issue of Wi-fi and modern library as requested by students “we would try our best to upgrade the facility of our university.”
Mr. Cyer urged the students to use the skills they have acquired to eradicate poverty in the country.
“We can overcome poverty if we can turn the mighty River Nile, huge natural resources we have, we need to encourage irrigation instead of sitting under trees from morning till evening,” Cyer advised.
He appealed to the graduates to apply the knowledge they acquired as well as advise them to be ‘job creators’ and not a ‘job seekers.’
Meanwhile, the representative of class of 2023, Mr. Okara Samuel appreciated the lecturers for commendable job in imparting quality knowledge to the students.
He lamented of economic hardship that has negatively impacted on students and forced some of colleagues to drop-out of studies due to tuition fees and other learning demands.
Mr. Samuel also called on the management to upgrade the library as well as install Wi-fi to enable students and lecturers have access to internet during their academic research.
He also appealed to the government to diversify economic to create favorable environment for learners, as well as called on government to increase the budget for education and health sectors.
For his part, graduands representative on behalf of females, Monica Amakou raised red flag over few lecturers who did not live up to expectation in completing modules, which she said could affect students.
Ms. Amakou appreciated the lecturers and called on parents to invest on the education of their children citing there is no future without education.
“To the parents, invest in the education of your children because there is no future without education,” she advised.
Ms. Amakou also encouraged parents to change their perception on girls and give their children equal rights to education as their male counterpart.
She appealed to the administration of the university to increase the number of female tutors, adding that institution only has one female teacher.
Starford International University – is one of the recognized private higher institutions of learning that was established in 2016 in South Sudan.