The earlier directive, announced by the Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi during a graduation ceremony in Rumbek last week, proposed the transfer of the school’s land for the establishment and expansion of Rumbek University of Science and Technology, triggering public outcry.
Critics argued that the move risked disrupting academic activities and limiting future development of one of the country’s oldest and most prominent secondary schools, adding that the allocation would undermine the legacy of one of the country’s oldest learning institutions.
The decision was made during a Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) meeting chaired by President Kiir in Juba on Wednesday.
Addressing the media after the meeting on Wednesday, the SPLM Secretary-General, Dr Akol Paul Kordit, said the party’s leadership resolved to halt the transfer in order to preserve the school’s historical significance.
“Finally, the SPLM leadership also resolved the current uproar in the public regarding the donation of Rumbek Senior Secondary School to the University of Rumbek,” Akol said.
He said President Kiir halted the process, effectively restoring the school’s full control over its land.
“The party leadership discussed this and resolved that Rumbek Senior Secondary School is a historical school, it’s a historical site, and it’s a school that is educating the children of the martyrs that fought this war,” he said.
“Therefore, the school shall continue as a secondary school as it has been. Meanwhile, the Minister of Higher Education and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan shall raise funds to build new structures for the University of Rumbek in the land that has been allocated and given to the University of Rumbek by the Rumbek community.”
