South Sudan Welcomes Uganda’s Move To Remove Student Pass Fees

The ambassador of South Sudan to Uganda, Simon Deng has lauded the government of Uganda for waiving student pass fees on South Sudanese nationals.

Until this month, every South Sudanese studying in Uganda was required to pay $100 (Shs370,000) annually for student pass.

However, addressing journalists at the embassy, Deng announced that they had received a notice from the government of Uganda indicating that the fees have been scrapped off.

In July, speaking during the celebrations to mark South Sudan’s Independence anniversary, the ambassador brought up the issue and wondered why South Sudanese in Ugandan learning institutions were being charged as international students, contrary to the East African Community protocol on free movement of people and goods.

According to Deng, the fee had seen many South Sudanese students in Uganda drop out of learning institutions while others failed to graduate.

“When this came to our attention, with the education office here, we were able to engage with respective ministries. It was a whole government approach where we presented our case.” the ambassador told journalists on Sunday.

Since then, the embassy and the government of Uganda have been holding engagements until September 6, when the latter issued a notice regarding the waiver.

The ambassador applauded the government of Uganda for the waiver which he said will hugely benefit South Sudanese studying in Uganda.

“They (South Sudanese nationals) are going to benefit from a scheme that all other members of EAC are benefiting from.” he said.