University of Juba

About The University
As early as the thirties, a training programme was started in Juba for clerks, typists and other personnel for the whole of the Southern Sudan. The 'Trainees' as the students were known, resided in the area presently occupied by the District Police Headquarters.

In the mid-forties, the training programme was upgraded and the place was recognized as the Juba Training Centre (JTC). This Centre trained junior personnel like accountants, clerks, book-keepers, medical assistants and public health officers. In 1954, the JTC was phased out and the premises were converted to the present commercial secondary school.

The idea of a University in the South was first raised in March 1965 when, in response to the demand from Southern members, the Round Table Conference resolved to establish a University in the Southern Sudan. However, due to various problems, this was not implemented.

In 1971, the Erkweit Conference, which was held in Juba that year, recognized the need for a training facility in Juba and recommended that the University of Khartoum should open a branch of its Extra-Mural studies in Juba. This programme was duly started by the University of Khartoum in November 1975.

After the Addis Ababa Agreement, the first practical steps in establishing a University in Juba were taken by the Regional Government when a University of Juba Project was formed in 1973. The Project was chaired by the Regional Minister of Education, and Dr. Joseph Awad Morgan, as its Director, made internal and external efforts to outline the general philosophy and objective of the University.

In 1975, the President of the Republic, His Excellency, Gaffar Mohammad Nimeri decreed the establishment of the University of Juba and on the 9th. November 1975, its Act came into force. The Act simultaneously established the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies and the College of Social and Economic Studies. In 1977 the Council of the University established the College of Education and the College of Adult Education and Training. In 1978, the College of Medicine was also established by the Council.

In April 1976, the Commission of European Communities and the Government of the Sudan held discussions aimed at funding a programme of study for the new University. The Inter-University Council of Britain accepted to be the coordinator of this study, which was to be under-taken by an international group of academicians. The report was completed in April 1977. On 15th September of the same year, teaching started with 150 students in four colleges. On 6th October, the University of Juba was formally opened by the President of the Republic amidst great jubilation by the citizens of Juba Town.

In 1990, the Chairman of the Salvation Revolution Command Council H.E. Lt. General Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir issued the University of Juba Act, signed on the 21st Zul'qaida 1410 Higria, coinciding with the 14th June 1990 A.D. The Act was reviewed and reissued in 1995.

Vision Statement
The University of Juba aspires to be a leading and forward-looking institution for learning and research; recognized through the excellence and relevance of its innovative academic and research programmes that are aligned to the needs of local communities and the challenges of twenty-first century world.

Mission Statement

• The University of Juba intends to become a leading African university; recognized nationally and internationally for excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship; pursuing teaching and research programmes that are innovative and relevant to today world and the ever evolving needs of the communities it serves; and that are geared towards improving intercultural understanding, protection of the environment, and promotion of sustainable development. The mission of University of Juba is to:
• Establish itself as a leading African university by gaining a reputation of high quality undergraduate and postgraduate research programmes that are relevant to the job market and the needs of surrounding communities
• Provide a high quality learning experience for all undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Become a learning institution in the country of first choice for most students because of its stimulating learning environment and creative teaching programmes.
• Produce professionals possessing intellectual, artistic, musical, and inter-cultural skills that will enhance the well being of community
• Contribute to the enhancement of quality of life, economic productivity, and protection of natural environment of Southern Sudan
• Establish local, national, and international partnership with industry, academia, government, and NGOS with the purpose of contributing to capacity building that will improve economic and cultural vitality of the nation
• Embark on scientific research and scholarship in order to help in responsible and optimal utilization and conservation of natural resources
• Project a unique institutional image identity that is recognized for distinctive contribution to the life of the communities we serve

Objectives
The primary objectives of the University, as stipulated in its Act, are to train manpower for the developmental needs of the Southern Sudan and similar regions in the country. It envisages the development of this skilled manpower to seek and to determine rational methods of exploitation of the vast natural resources of the country for development .The objective takes into account the building up of social life within the national goals of economic development ,forging national integration and promoting human and international understanding.

Policy
The University of Juba is the first of the emerging new national universities, which are geared to take into account regional peculiarities in their operation and philosophy of education. Like the other institutions of higher learning in the country, it is governed by the general policies and regulations of the National Council for Higher Education and is similarly funded by the Higher Education Grants Committee. Likewise, its student admission programme falls into line with the general policies of the National Admission Board. However, its admission programme takes into account the special needs of the Southern Sudan

Admission
Students are admitted to the university through one of the following four channels:

• National intake consists of General intake + Least Developed States Intake.
• Private admission.
• Distance education.
• Mature intake.
  

Except for distance education, all students coming through the other channels should be full-time students.

General intake
The National Admission Bureau (NAB), on completion by candidates admission application forms, regulates admission to various universities. The NAB obtains the marks of students coming through the national pool from the Ministry of Education. Students with foreign certificates must submit original copies authenticated by the authorities of the country of origin and the Sudanese Embassy therein. A certificate submitted for admission should have been obtained in the same year of application. The various certificates undergo a contest after which the NAB selects the students and sends the list of eligible candidates to the university.

Least developed state intake
The idea of a special intake quota for the least developed regions originated from University of Juba. It has now become applicable to all regions except Khartoum states. This type of admission is meant to offer higher education opportunity to students who come from marginalized regions. In addition to the Sudan School Certificate, the applicant is supposed to submit a citizenship certificate from the applicant's state.

The applicant may have to comply with further conditions decided by his/her state pertaining to a period of service in that state after the completion of the university career. These applicants follow the same procedure of admission as the regular students.

EDUCATION
The College of Education (CED) is one of the oldest Colleges of the University, established along with the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CNRES) and the College of Social and Economics Studies (CSES) in 1977. Its departments were: Education, English, Arabic, English literature, Geography, History, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

The department of English Language and the department of Literature were amalgamated into one department of English Language and Literature. This department and the department of Arabic Language used to offer language general courses to all the colleges of the University till the Centre of Language and Translation took over in 1997 after its initiation.

Science departments courses were taught by CNRES because the syllabuses of 1st and 2nd year were identical to the college of education and students were few. However, when the number increased in 1988 in the two colleges, the College of education established its own Science departments.

Students take a number of compulsory core courses in education and choose two teaching subjects either from Arts or Science group. In the third and fourth year of study, students undertake Teaching Practice in schools, in and around Juba.

Since its establishment, the College has made all efforts to improve its curricula, which resulted in a new one, passed by the Senate in its 187th meeting, held on August 24, 2000.

The Vision of the College of Education will be the first in integrating teaching and advancing knowledge relevant to the people through its excellent programs and in preparing professionals who will help in teaching and development of the society.

The College Mission is to prepare teachers, scholars, and to advance the profession of education through the science and art of teaching and learning.

MEDICINE
In January 1978 the Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, Al Sammani Abdalla Yagoub invited a team of consultants from the University of Khartoum and the Medical Council to consider the need and justification for the establishment of the College of Medicine in the University of Juba. The consultants report entitled "Report on the Establishment of the College of Medicine" recommended that a College of Medicine should be established at the University of Juba.

This report was approved by the Council of University of Juba and in 1979 the first batch of students was accepted for a course of six years study. In Juba till 1988, the College of Medicine was situated in the Town Campus, Clinical teaching was conducted in Juba Teaching Hospital, Sabbah Children's Hospital, Juba Military Hospital, and Buluk Eye clinic.

In 1989, the University of Juba was moved to the Northern part of Sudan due to war in the South. The College is presently located in Omdurman. The College, so far, has graduated 23 batches.

Health Service Unit
The Health Service Unit provides health care to the students, workers and their families in the university. The staff of the unit includes doctors, medical assistants, nurses, health officers and a statistics clerk.

The unit carries out medical examinations of all students when they are first admitted to the university and keeps a file for each student throughout the student's entire university career. The unit offers emergency services in the clinics, compiles medical statistics and caters for public hygiene within the university premises. Cases that can not be dealt with in the clinic at Atlabara and El-Kadaru are referred to hospitals and medical laboratories outside.

During examinations a medical committee supervises and provides a stand-by service in all examination centres. During examinations, the students are advised to follow the following points: A sick student should inform the resident doctor of the student's examination centre.

If a student is admitted to hospital in the course of an examination period and will consequently absent himself from the examination, the student should immediately inform the examination centre, which will inform the health service to visit and attend to the patient. After the end of examinations, the medical committee submits a report of all sicknesses to the Chairman of the Senate and the respective Deans to decide on cases of absence due to medical reasons. No medical certificate obtained outside the University health units will be considered valid except after careful verification by the medical committee, which reserves the right to accept or reject it.

University of Juba Degree Programs :

Medicine

Video Presentation

Juba University in South Sudan

South Sudan's Juba University remains closed due to the decay of its brown-stone buildings near the center of the city following years of war. VOA's Paul Ndiho reports.