The board of governance of Rumbek Senior Secondary School has rejected a government plan to relocate the historic institution and donate its premises to Rumbek University of Science and Technology (RUST), saying the move would erase one of South Sudan’s oldest secondary schools.
In a statement and interviews with Radio Tamazuj, the board said the school, established in 1948, should remain in its current location and urged authorities to instead use allocated funds to build new university facilities at Abin-ajok in Rumbek Central County.
Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol announced on Monday during RUST’s graduation ceremony that President Salva Kiir had agreed to donate the secondary school premises to the university, while pledging that a modern secondary school would be constructed as compensation.
Board chairperson Gabriel Kuc Abyei rejected the plan, questioning the legality of transferring the property.
“The Rumbek Senior Secondary School belongs to the community and the people of Lakes State have a greater role in its ownership,” he said.
He said the presidency cannot unilaterally dispose of the school property, adding that any redevelopment should prioritize construction on new land already allocated for the university.
“Why take an old institution and give it to a new one?” he said, adding that the school continued to operate and serve students from across South Sudan.
Other board members and local leaders also opposed the relocation, describing the school as a historic institution that educated many figures who played roles in South Sudan’s liberation struggle.
Elder Madit Malual Ater said the community had already donated land at Abin-ajok for the university.
“The senior secondary school is very important and a foundation of education here,” he said, urging the government to construct the university on the designated site.
Peter Akuc Ater, another board member, said the school, established during the British colonial administration, should be preserved in its original location, though he supported the expansion of the university elsewhere.
Civil society activist Daniel Laat Kon said the announcement had sparked mixed reactions, but that most residents opposed the plan, citing lack of consultation.
“It is not bad to expand the university, but let it be done in a new place,” he said.
Paramount chief Sultan Madol Mathok Agolder also urged authorities to build the university on community-donated land in Abin-ajok.
The government has not yet publicly responded in detail to the objections raised by the school board and local leaders.
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