A civil society group has criticized Starford
International University for asking students to pay fees in hard currency.
Last week, the private university made it mandatory for
students to pay tuition fees in United States dollars, in an apparent
adjustment to the current economic crisis.
Despite the government’s efforts to ban transactions in
US dollars, some institutions have continued to defy the move.
The chairperson of Jonglei Civil Society Network,
responding to the university's decision, says the use of foreign currency is
the major factor affecting the country's economy.
“This tendency of using USD to trade within the country
is a major factor that is currently contributing to the weakening of SSP,” Bol
Deng Bol told The Radio Community in an interview.
“This university is an addition to the number of
institutions that have lost faith in our currency, among them are big hotels
across the country.”
He expressed worry that students may not be able to
afford to pay their tuition fees.
“The students and citizens will not be able to shoulder
this burden. They have had enough,” he stated.
He further criticized the government for having failed to
control the economy.
“The fault is the government's. Why? Because they keep
issuing directives but fail to ensure implementation of the same, then turn to
blame defaulters afterward. They must shoulder the responsibility of the failed
economy,” he explained.
Taban, a 2nd-year student at SIU, says he will not be
able to get dollars to pay for his tuition fees this semester.
“This is a very hard decision. It was easy to work hard
and pay my fees in SSP, but now things will be hard for me. I understand the
economic situation the country is going through, but fees shouldn’t have been
increased rapidly like that,” he stressed.
He explained, “I used to pay 160 SSP per semester, but
now I will be paying 300 U.S. dollars per semester. My hopes for school are now
limited.”
SIU Finance Manager Atem Arop's May 24 notice lacks an
explanation for using the dollar rather than the pound.
However, in April, Dr. Kenneth Wyne Mutuma, SIU
chancellor, stated that the institution was facing challenges related to the
exchange rate.
This, he said, made it impossible to buy the much-needed
standard library, adequate computers, and WiFi.
As of Wednesday, 1$ sells at SSP 1,577, but at the black
market, 100$ sells at 260,000 SSP.