Yei Day school students protest against teachers transfer
February 26, 2016 (YEI) – Hundreds of students from Yei Day Senior Secondary School in South Sudan’s Yei municipality had on Thursday demonstrated for five hours, protesting against the transfer of eight of their teachers from the school.
The angry students could be seen shouting slogans such as “no change”, closing school gates and throwing stones on the roof of the staff departments which forced the police to evacuate the school premises.
They explained to Sudan Tribune some of the reasons against the transfer: “If they brought in other teachers that don’t give us the right knowledge then we shall be the ones to face the consequences, not benefit and continue to suffer,” said a male student.
“To cooperate with new teacher will take time and will make us to fail and if they continue to transfer our teachers to other schools then we are likely to fail first term exams,” said another female student.
They said the abrupt change in the middle of the term was not advisable, adding that things would have been different if the transfer was done at the beginning of the term.
Meanwhile, Juma Hillary, one of the teachers who are among the transfer list also rejected the transfer demanding promotion before leaving the school.
“As far as am concerned, I don’t feel good. When you are transferred, there must be promotion and grading to give you a moral so that you don’t remain stagnant. You cannot just be transferred as a teacher and person. Am knowledgeable and professional, I deserve a credit because there must be a reason why you transfer me from one school to another,” he told Sudan Tribune in Yei town.
However the county inspector for secondary schools, Emmanuel Sebit, accused the school teachers of allegedly instigating the students protest against their transfer.
“I think transfers are normal for effective service delivery. These teachers are innocent only that these teachers and administrators who are affected played a negative role which resulted into these students protesting against their transfer. What I want to tell our teachers is that; they should maintain their professionalism, desist from politics, they should not mislead learners and continue with their duties normally without any problems,” he stressed.
However, the mayor of Yei municipal council, Cosmas Bidali Wori-Kojo, has responded by issuing a directive suspending the teachers transfer until further notice.
(ST)