Some poor families in Abyei say their children are unable to go to school because they cannot afford to pay to register them.

These families are ineligible for the type of “special consideration” given by the Abyei Area Administration to the orphans and children whose fathers are dead.

Athak Chol, a woman living at Malual Alue, says she cannot afford the 50 SSP needed to register her grandson. The boy could not go to school until she found the money from somewhere.

In nearby Akajnhial, Nyanluak Chol ‐ a widow ‐ is waiting to register two of her four children. She says she could not find even casual work, and could not pay for the other two children to attend classes.

Another widow, Nyankiir Mawien, says she intends to plead with the school authorities to be exempted from paying.

Abyei´s general director of education, Deng Longo, said the payment for registering pupils should be called a “contribution” rather than a fee. The money from parents would help pay for teachers and school buildings. He said there were exemptions for widows and orphaned children, but noted that sometimes even these people had relatives who could afford the registration payments.

Reporting by Abyei Today