By Bida Elly David
Council of Ministers, in a regular meeting Friday, chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, passed Student Support Fund Bill.
Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth said in Friday media briefing that the fund is meant to support students whose families are incapable of raising financial resources.
He said the minister of general education and instructions tabled a budget of 105,250,810 South Sudanese pounds and it was approved by the cabinet for this year.
“This budget is approved for this year and will be included in the budget for the start,” Makuei told the media.
He explained that the student support funds are usually meant for vulnerable, who are in universities and higher institutions of learning.
“That support fund could provide for their accommodation, feeding, health care, and sanitation materials,” he explained.
The information minister added that the fund is also subject to fully covering academic tuition for vulnerable students at all levels of higher learning.
Makuei, however, cautioned that the fund will not be for everybody who claims to have come from a destitute family, yet they are not part of it.
On the criteria of identifying vulnerable students from the able ones, Makuei said that the law through the articles will clarify once the constitution is out.
“There will be criteria for the allocation of these resources. So, any student who will not meet the conditions or the provisions will ultimately not get any support,” he noted.
The cabinet, after thorough deliberations, amended the bill, noting that it would be funded by the national budget of the state.
Makuei said that the bill will also have other sources that will be approved by the management board concerned.
“In terms of other sources, it could be donations, fundraising, or whatever to do with that fund,” he underscored.
The minister of justice was then directed to table the bill before Parliament for deliberation and consideration.