(JUBA) – A South Sudanese student has sparked public debate after accusing the Ministries of General Education and Instruction and Foreign Affairs of tribal bias in the awarding of international scholarships.
Emmanuel Rundial, an aspiring academic, says he was unfairly excluded from the final list of recipients for the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Scholarship, despite meeting all the requirements and being recommended by his university.
Rundial’s remarks have intensified long standing concerns about fairness and inclusivity in South Sudan’s education system.
According to him, he successfully passed the interviews and was officially recommended for the scholarship, but his name was removed at the final approval stage by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He believes the decision was based on ethnic grounds.
“I was interviewed, I passed. The university recommended my name,” he said. “But because of tribalism in our country, I was victimised and left out. How do you feel when one tribe or section takes all the scholarships?”
Rundial, who describes himself as both an academic and a servant of God, condemned what he termed a culture of “malpractice rooted in tribalism” in national institutions.
He appealed to leaders to put an end to such practices, calling for a future where all South Sudanese children can benefit from education fairly.
“My prayer is that one day, we shall overcome tribalism,” he said. “And when that day comes, those involved in this practice will be ashamed, because history will remember their actions.”
The ICCR Scholarship programme, run by the Indian government, provides fully funded opportunities for foreign students to pursue higher education in India.
South Sudan is among the countries eligible to nominate candidates. However, this case has raised fresh concerns about how nominees are chosen and whether the process respects merit and national diversity.
A member of a civil society group said the damage goes beyond one person’s exclusion, arguing that the credibility of national institutions is at stake, and the country risks losing its best minds if education opportunities continue to be politicised or ethnically skewed.