Chiefs who fail to send their children to school will be sacked, the commissioner of Katiko County in Kapoeta State has warned.

Speaking on Radio Tamazuj’s With the Commissioners’ Programme on Thursday, Abdalla Lokorae said all chiefs must send their children to school in order to show good examples to citizens in their various communities.

“Any chief must enroll his child in school to show that he is responsible, but you cannot be responsible without having someone in school. We will take the position away from any chief who does not enroll his child in school and choose someone who enrolls children in school,” Lokorae stressed.

The local official said that there are three primary schools in the county. “We have Katiko, Nachilagur and Lomilimil primary schools. A school called Nakware ceased working because of salary delays forcing teachers to seek jobs in NGOs,” Lokorae explained.

The official decried what he described as the lack of interest among local communities in enrolling children in school.

“First of all, the community does like education. If a child is brought to school and the agricultural season comes, they will come and take the child to the garden to scare birds away and the county government is against that,” he said.

Lokorae further said he recently held a meeting with community leaders and advised them to keep their children in school.

Aurelio Loparan, the chief of Katiko payam, confirmed that there are some community members making it hard for education to prosper.

He is expecting new changes in the education system next year.

According to reports, the education system in South Sudan has deteriorated at both the system and service delivery levels and is characterized by poor educational outcomes and high numbers of out-of-school children.