Children are dropping out of overcrowded and under-equipped classrooms in Jamam and Doro camp in Mabaan, county of Upper Nile state.
A teacher from Doro camp told Radio Tamazuj parents are choosing not to sent their children to school anymore: ‘We do not have enough teachers. Books, chairs and other equipment are also lacking’.
Another reason for pupils dropping out is, according to teacher Al-Reh Ahmed Nureen, the South Sudanese teaching curriculum. It differs – in both language and topics – from the curriculum used in the Sudanese Blue Nile state, the area most of the refugees who are now finding shelter in Mabaan fled.
Parents in the Mabaan camps expressed concerns over their children’s future, as they are not receiving proper primary education. Parents from both Doro and Jamam camp confirmed the teacher’s complaint about the shortage of equipment, teachers, and a curriculum the children are able to understand.
Families with children continue to arrive in Mabaan county. The first group of refugees arrived in September 2011 and has been living in a dire situation since. Camp Jamam suffered recently from flooding and shortages of drinking water.
The World Food Programme announced last week to deliver an extra 2000 metric tons of food within the next two weeks to Upper Nile state. Refugees arriving in Jamam camp have walked about 70 kilometers from their villages in the Blue Nile state.