The Egyptian government recently introduced fees that should be paid by foreign students studying under government scholarships in its higher education. It has also set age limit for who should be admitted to undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Speaking to journalists following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir today, information minister and government spokesman Michael Makuei said Egypt is offering free scholarships to South Sudanese students, but there are some limitations that the government believes need to be addressed.
“After the presentation, the cabinet decided that the ministry and service cluster should set up a committee to go to Egypt to discuss all this with the Egyptian government and see how best this situation can be addressed,” he said.
Makuei said that the Egyptian government has attached new fees such as $100 dollars for registration, among other fees that must be paid by students on government scholarship, adding that age limitations has also been made a condition by the Egyptian government.
“Of course, the government of Egypt has given us 400 scholarships, which were free scholarships, fully funded, but now there are a lot of changes in the system, and they are demanding that students should pay $100 for registration and that there are other fees that must be paid by students,” he said.
“In addition to that, we have come to make further clarification on the age limit, which is that any student going for undergraduates should not be above 19 years old, anybody going for master’s degree should not be more than 26 years old, and anybody going for PhD studies should not be more than 32 years of age, so those are all the limitations being made,” he added.
The government spokesman further said the committee is expected to travel to Egypt soon to discuss the challenges with the Egyptian government.
How is it call free scholarship when students are being asks to pay some fees?
The name fully funded scholarship implies free scholarship. There is no reason why students should pay any money.
Those students who looks for government scholarship are not able to afford any payment in regard to their studies. They desperately needs help from the government to facilitate their studies.
Furthermore, the issue of age limit has to be properly addressed by our government and the government of the Republic of Egypt. The vast majority of the South Sudanese citizens enroll for their studies at their old ages. That need to be looked at also.
Regards,
Isaac D.
The government should take an immediate action and travels to Egypt 🇪🇬 but not saying that they are until when are you going to enhance the feedback……we are the students and we are just staying at home and time is going. The good thing u heard that there’s age limit to the scholarship……perhaps our President should take action because we need to go to school 🏫 and the year is over which means the students are likely to stay home for another year which is not good……its affecting them mentally ……..so please our leader u ought to take this matter seriously otherwise no progress in the country