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Forword
In recent
years, the University of Juba has gone through a number of changes At the
close of the second decade following its inauguration in 1977. the
University has witnessed an unprecedented growth in its student and staff
population. During the last three years, new colleges have been established
including the Graduate College that now offers courses and study programs
leading to the award of masters" and doctoral degrees Among the must
recent additions to the University are the College of Applied and Industrial
Sciences, the Centre for Peace and Development Studies, the College of
Engineering, the Centres for Languages and Translation, and of Distance
Education. The Library has been upgraded to a Deanship. Two new Colleges
i.e. College of Arts and Humanities and College of Law have been created as
approved by the University Council in its 16th meeting held on September 14,
1998.
Ironically, these changes have
been taking place during its sojourn in Khartoum and at a time when the
infrastructure in the Juba campus has deteriorated significantly.
Parallel development has also taken place in our academic programs. The
undergraduate curricula of most colleges have been extensively reviewed and
developed to cater for Honour's degrees and the University examination
regulations have been revised and amended to conform closely to the
requirements of a proper semester system.
It is our conviction that the new calendar will serve not merely as a source
of information to the reader but that it will also greatly reflect the new
developments within the University.
Prof. Zakaria Bashir Imam, B.A., M.Litt., Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor
University of Juba
October 1, 1998
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Historical Background
As early as the thirties, a training program 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 program was upgraded and recognized as the Juba Training
Center (JTC). This Center trained junior personnel like accountants, clerks, bookkeepers,
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 program 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. of 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 Council also established the College of Medicine.
In April 1976, the Commission of European Communities and the Government of the Sudan held
discussions aimed at funding a program of study for the new University. The
Inter-University Council of Britain accepted to be the coordinator of this study, 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 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. Lft. 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.
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OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives of
the University, as stipulated in its Act, is to tram 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..
The motto of the University is 'Relevance and Excellence’, which translates into an
educational philosophy aimed at effectively integrating academic excellence with the needs
of ordinary people. The relevance is to be achieved through a strong emphasis on practical
training so as to minimize elitism.
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 program falls into line
with the general policies of the National Admission Board. However, its admission program
takes into account the special needs of the Southern Sudan.
ORGANIZATION
The University of Juba is
organized in Colleges of Adult Education and Community Studies, Applied and Industrial
Sciences, Education, Engineering, Medicine, Natural Resources and Environmental Studies,
Social and Economic Studies, and College of Graduate Studies. Also it contains Centers for
Peace and Development Studies, Computer Studies, and Languages and Translation and newly
established Center of Distance Education. These academic units offer a variety of academic
programs leading to Bachelor, Masters and Doctoral degrees in various disciplines and
specialization’s.
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