A back-to-school campaign targeting more than 4,000 pupils has been launched in Duk County, Jonglei State, amidst low turnout following last month’s reopening of all the learning institutions after a year-long COVID-19 lockdown.
The campaign, supported by the NGO Church Mission for Development (CMD) was launched Monday morning.
The county education director, Samuel Majok Malok, told Radio Tamazuj that they had embarked on the initiative because turnouts have been low among pupils since last month.
The education official pointed out that the back-to-learning campaign will allow parents to make an informed decision on their children’s education.
“In Duk County, there are 17 primary schools. Since registrations started last month, the turnouts have been very low. Most pupils are at cattle camps and the swampy areas. So, we are doing this campaign to encourage 4,500 pupils to enroll back to schools and also emphasized the importance of education,” Majok explained.
One pupil Andrew Magai Maliet said he attended the campaign to encourage the rest of the pupils to enroll in the school.
"I am happy that schools have been opened again. Today, during the Back-to-Learning campaign, they told us that school is good. They want everyone else to enroll," he said.
17-year-old Yar Matiop decried rampant child marriage in Duk and urged all the parents to allow their daughters to attain formal education.
For his part, James Machar Awek, the CMD’s field education officer, said the educational initiative will continue until all the school-age children are back to school, pointing out that a well-trained and equipped parents-teachers association has been established for them to attain the back-to-learning goal.
Elijah Manyok Ayiei, the county’s executive director, welcomed the initiative, saying that they had engaged all the traditional leaders to allow girls to continue with their studies, emphasizing that education is a key to success.