By John Actually
With only two months to full independence, Southern Sudan’s education sector is in tatters, with most of its young citizens seeking education in neighboring countries due to a shortage of schools.
Even the few schools operating within the country have seen a massive drop out rate due to lack of facilities, materials, and teachers, as well as growing insecurity. The lack of a proper curriculum in most primary schools in Jonglei state, combined with a shortage of trained teachers, has led to poor education standards. Some of the regions schools have been closed due to insecurity while in others, one teacher handles as many as 100 pupils.
John Makuei Gai, a resident of Malualchat whose son was studying at Panapet primary school outside Bor town, said he had sent his son to Gulu in Uganda for better equality education after realizing local schools had very low standards. “I had invested in my son’s education but I was shocked to discover that at grade six, my son could not express himself in proper English. I had to withdraw him,” Gai said.
He added: “I realized that children in that school were only being taught one or two subjects a week. I was told there were no teachers.” He said the school, like many others in parts of Southern Sudan lacked classrooms forcing teachers to conduct lessons under trees. “Text books are inadequate and some schools open at 10am and close at 12 noon, giving the pupils only two hours to learn,” Gai explained.
Most of the locals, like Rebecca Atong Deng who cannot afford to send their children to foreign schools are turning to the few private academies. Deng initially sent her three children who earlier served as child soldiers in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to Bor public primary school but, later transferred them to a private school where she is paying 150 Sudanese Pounds per term.
However, teachers in public schools have defended themselves against claims they were performing poorly. One of the teachers at Bor, Santo Majok Mach said: “We are not to blame. We try our best but lack of facilities makes our work very difficult. In fact the government should take full responsibility for the poor state of our schools.”
“The government is not building new schools and teachers are very demoralized. Many schools have no facilities,” he said, adding that well trained teachers were leaving public schools for greener pastures.
The situation worsened after a number of schools in Jonglei state had to be closed from 21 February to 28 March this year, after teachers went on strike demanding housing allowance. In 2008 a general teachers strike in Southern Sudan over poor wages paralyzed learning in most parts of the country and many schools have not recovered from the disruption. The government never affected the requested pay rise. Maluk said most teachers in public schools earned a gross monthly salary of 310 Sudanese Pounds (about $100), an amount which he said was too little.
Disruption of the school feeding programme has also forced many children to drop out. Some primary schools were getting food aid from the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) and other NGOs in collaboration with the United Nations since 2005 until it was stopped in 2010.
Many children, aged between 7-18 years old are found in various bus parks in Bor where they work as turn boys. Bor County Commissioner tried last year to bring these vulnerable children into a common centre under his close custody where they would be fed while engaging them in education, but the project did not succeed.
Residents said insecurity has also adversely affected learning in Jongeli state. Many primary schools in Pibor County were reported to have been closed following the recent clashes between Nuer Lou and Murle over cattle rustling, in which over 400 people were reportedly killed. Many children were said to have been abducted during the fights and as many as 9,000 people displaced. Pigi County Commissioner, Mr. Aleu Majak, confirmed the communal skirmishes had paralyzed education in the region.
Early marriages among school girls are also cited as a drawback to education in the region. Poverty stricken parents prefer getting cows in exchange for their daughters, rather than sending them to school.