Juba University Aweil Students Association (JUASA)

University of Juba, Juba, South Sudan

Education for Peace, Unity and Development

On the occasion of the Graduation and incoming students from
Greater Aweil on 12th February 2017 at Freedom Hall, Juba, South
Sudan

Speech by Ambassador Telar Deng

First, I must say that it gives me a great pleasure and honour to be

approached by students and youth of our country like your association;
the Juba University Aweil Students Association (JUASA) in order to give
a talk about this important topic; Education for Peace, Unity and
Development.

But before I share my thoughts with you on this topic, I would like first to
underline my relationship with the people of Aweil. As a young man and
student here at Juba Commercial Secondary School in the 1970s or even
before that at Bussere North Intermediate School in Wau, I had some
wonderful colleagues from Aweil.

Also, as a university student in the USA and Great Britain in the early
1980s, I met some great people from Aweil such as Benjamin Bol Akok,
the founder of the SPLM in Europe. And when I joined the SPLM/SPLA
liberation struggle in 1984, my relationship with some comrades from
Aweil throve and stood the test of time. Notebly, since the inception of
the movement, I have had a very good contact with comrades Gen.
Malong Awan, the Chief of General Staff and Lt. Gen. Santino Deng Wol
and others. I met Gen. Paul Malong in 1984, and I met Gen. Santino
Deng Wol in 1985 when we were in Wolf Battalion and Nile Battalion
respectively.

Uncle/ Lt Gen Lual Ding Wol, now deceased was one of our shining
leaders in the bush and subsequently in the government after the
conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace agreement (CPA) in January
2005. Second, in my relationship with the people of Aweil, I noticed their

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profound honesty, frankness and therefore I still cherish their friendship.
They are candid in their views and perspectives.

Perhaps because of these traits Aweil has contributed a great deal to the
liberation and ultimate freedom or independence of South Sudan. I am
saying this because as young people from the area in question you should
be proud of your elders. The question is, will you be able to emulate
them??

Turning to the topic at hand today: Education, peace, unity and

development, I must say that this is a vast question and it raises many
questions.
However, we can examine it in this way. First, education, the process of
teaching and learning or imparting knowledge and skills can play an
important role in the bringing about peace and development.

Through education, for example, you can produce qualified manpower,

professionals that can undertake the actual socio-economic development
of the area. Thus, education can train teachers, doctors, engineers and
veterinary doctors to provide the key services to the nation.

How education is a requisite to peace and development.

South Sudan has been in constant wars with the Sudan for many decades
since 1955. Unfortunately, in some instances the conflict turned into a
civil war, South-South conflict with untold long-term damages or
consequences on the social fabric of the young nation.
It is a national responsibility to repair this social destruction and restore
and foster oneness as a people. Therefore, in post conflict contexts like
South Sudan, education has been conceived as an important vehicle not
only for production of skilled professional manpower in terms of doctors,
engineers and teachers etc..., but increasingly for state-formation, nation
building and national cohesion.

Therefore, one of the key principles of our education system is to foster

national cohesion in the country.

Article (6) (b) General Education Act, 2012 stipulates that;

Education shall foster the development of South Sudan through

integration, peace, self-reliance, patriotism, respect and tolerance for
other cultures, traditions, religions opinions and beliefs.

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This suggests that our schools should not only teach the concepts of
integration, peace and harmony among our people, we should actually
practice them. And that is where the idea of national boarding schools
came about. National schools like Juba Commercial, Rumbek, Malakal
and Bussere must be revived and established as national boarding
schools. These schools should admit students from various parts of the
country. In that respect they become melting pot for the next generations
of South Sudan.

This model has succeeded in the past as seen by the patriotism

generations that passed through the old Juba Commercial and Rumbek
Secondary Schools. The graduates of Rumbek and Juba Commercial
respectivel that assumed the cause for national liberation in the 1950s and
1960s.

We also need to institute compulsory national service in which all our

young people from the age of 18 and above before they commence their
university education are enrolled in a national service programme in
which they receive essential training and understanding on fundamentals
of nation.
National service is internationally practiced and worked tremendously
well in many countries such as Eritrea, Egypt and Tanzania.

This is the role of universities such as the University of Juba and other
tertiary sector institutions in the country. We expect the universities and
all the postsecondary institutions to qualify our young men and women to
undertake such a noble national assignment.

However, in an ethnically diversified post-conflict country like South

Sudan, education has a wider function. There are about 64 nationalities or
ethnic groups with their languages in the country. It is an imperative role
of education to foster national unity among all these ethnic groups.
In order for education to successfully undertake such a function, there are
some basic requirements. This is to be accentuated in the national
curriculum, which must emphasise the questions of national unity, shared
values, and traditions.

At the heart of the struggle for the liberation of South Sudan was the
quest to de-colonisation or independence of our culture. As African
people, through out history, we sought to free ourselves from the colonial
hegemony. This was not possible until and when we exerted our unity.
Those of you who have studied history, you have witnessed the unity of
the people of South Sudan through the commitment and sacrifices of long

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civil wars of independence, from 1955 to 1972 and from 1983 to 2005
respectively.

More importantly, it was evidently expressed in their emphatic decision

to opt for secession in the Southern Sudan 2011 referendum, when almost
99% of all the participants across the Southern Sudan overwhelmingly
voted for independence or freedom.

Therefore, the unity of the people of South Sudan is key for our existence
as a nation state.

Our educational authorities have an important role to play in all this.

Ustaz Lawrence Lual Lual, another leader from Aweil, who was the
Secretary for the SPLM Education, first adopted the New Sudan National
curriculum in Chukudum in 1994.

In 2008 President Salva Kiir Mayardit piloted the South Sudan National
curriculum in Lui in 2008 and after independence in 2011 the national
curriculum was launched here in Juba at Nyakuron Culture Centre. I am
sure some of you, unlike me, were taught with this curriculum.
As I said the idea was to appreciate our history, values and culture as a
people. This can propel us forward.

In all this each of us has a role to play to bring about unity and peace
among ourselves. In the ten commandants, we are taught that there are
two most important commandants: Love God and Love your neighbour
as you love yourself. There are no other commandants more important
than these. Some of our problems in South Sudan are a result of
misconception and ignorance about each other. Therefore, if you had a
friend from another ethnic group and took him home to Aweil on
holidays, that experience would open his or her mind, not only about the
generosity and kindness of the people of Aweil, that we all know, but
about the fact the Jurchol (Luo) and the Dinka people of Aweil have a lot
in common with the other people of South Sudan.

However, to be able to do that you must believe in larger concepts, ideas,

bigger than our small selves, such as South Sudan, nationalism,
patriotism, sacrifices, national unity, etc

Thus, you can see, you the young people have a greater role to play in
bringing about unity, peace and development to our nascent country.
Thank you very much for inviting me and thank you for listening!

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I wish you all the best in your studies.

God bless South Sudan!