Emmanuel Christian College or ECC has on Friday graduated seventy-four students in Yei, with certificates, diplomas, and Bachelors in the faculties of Education, Business administration, Leadership and Theology.
Speaking during the event, Principal, Daniel Ohide, applauded the graduates for being patient, commited, diligence and hard working.
“Dear grandaunts thank you for your hard work, perseverance, diligence, commitment and courage. Your journey hasn’t been easy and in addition to the assignments, tests and the examinations, you also had to study in the midst of challenges such as the insecurity in Yei, especially in 2017 and 2018. There were financial challenges due to currency inflation, transport difficulties due to chronic civil war and recently the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world”.
“You are not supposed to be here if we have to look at the challenges that you have overcome. Your courage is immeasurable. Your commitment to your studies has been remarkable, you are unstoppable”, Ohide stressed.
Commissioner of Yei River County, Aggrey Cyrus Kanyikwa, encourages parents and guardians to send their children to school.
“Please parents, let us take care of the hoe and the land, to produce and sell food for our children to go to school. There is future for us. There is hope and it is built in you. You start to build the hope. As graduates, let your graduation not be irrelevant to our situation. Don’t make your graduation irrelevant to your families and to people of Yei. And for it to be relevant, you must be a servant. Don’t graduate with prestige of bulling people on the road because you have a degree.
“That degree will be meaningless, if you use it for pride. You should not be a graduate today, who is going to promote rebellion in South Sudan, but be a graduate, to promote peace”, he stressed.
Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria State, Sarah Nene Redento, pledges government’s support in Education.
“You are going out to be peace makers you take peace to your respective areas. The government of central equatorial is optimistic in Education and education is the key to development without education we cannot have good leaders yes we have leader seven without education but good leadership comes out of education now you have your degrees and diplomas, the certificate. Think big and beyond. Have plans so that you can succeed the knowledge you have acquired from ECC”.
“To the students of ECC and all the students of secondary schools and basic, please have plans for yourself. Have vision of where you want to go. We are still far and we are going far and education is the key of every life of citizens”.
The graduation ceremony was under the theme: “Fear not, for God is with us”. It was attended by all stakeholders and Central Equatoria State government officials in their respective portfolios.
In October this year, Emmanuel Christian College was officially registered as private high national learning institution in the country.
Emmanuel Christian College offers four programs including bachelor and diploma in theology, bachelor and certificate in business, bachelor and diploma in leadership, certificate and diploma in education.