Charles K Mark
Maper National Teachers’ College students and teachers demand the reopening of their institution, which was closed due to government directives on the closure of schools.
Due to the rising heat wave, the Ministries of Education, Health, and Environment closed down all schools.
However, the students now believe that the closure is unfair and are urging for a revision of the decision, stating that the closure of higher educational institutes is affecting their learning.
One student teacher, who chose to remain anonymous but spoke to the No. 1 Citizen Daily English Newspaper, expressed their frustration and demanded the reopening of their institute.
“There is no reason to cause the closure of our institute because of the Heat waves. This is weakening our studies and we fully need to be in school,” the Student-Teacher said.
He said some of them have already spent time enough in the institute since their admission in 2019 and the delay of exams from the University of Juba worsened the situation.
Maper National Teachers’ College, established with funds from the government of Japan, is the only Teachers’ Training College in the region, with over 500 students.
The institute’s acting principal, Nitale Majok Lual, confirmed that they were forced to close the institute based on directives from Juba.
He explained that the confusion surrounding whether only primary and secondary schools should be closed or all educational institutions caused a delay in the closure.
“I don’t know that is why we took so long to close because according to the directive we received from Juba we were told to close down as an instruction from the Ministries of Environment, Health and the Ministry of General Education,” Majok said.
Mr. Majok emphasized that the closure was not their choice but was in compliance with the instructions from the Ministries of Environment, Health, and General Education.
When contacted the communications officer in the National Ministry of Health, Hol Joseph, stated that the directive was primarily targeting primary and secondary schools, and it might have been misinterpreted to include higher education institutions.
He pointed out that universities like the University of Juba and the Upper Nile, as well as private higher institutions, are still operational despite the heat wave.
The high heat wave compelled the government to declare the closure of all learning centres in the country, after registering death cases.