There is a shortage of teachers in Fashoda County in South Sudan’s Upper Nile because many instructors joined the military after non-payment of salaries.
“A teacher employed by the ministry of education under scale 14 is paid 270 SSP, whereas an SPLA soldier is getting 1,000 SSP per month,” said Fashoda County Director of Education Adwok Kiir. “It is unjust.”
Kiir said that after schools closed down during the conflict, 17 primary schools and one secondary school were recently reopened, but the teachers haven’t turned up for work.
He urged the authorities concerned to adjust the salaries of education sector to avoid more desertions of teacher.
The fighting also disrupted the chance for students to graduate to the next level.
“The P8 of last year could not sit for examinations, so they have been merged with a new batch of this year in one class,” Kiir said.
Army in schools
Kiir said learning is closed as well because SPLA-Juba forces as well as conflict-displaced people are occupying schools in the county.
He accused them of destroying water taps and toilets and delaying the year’s academic calendar.
Still, the edication official said that many internally displaced persons evacuated the schools after receiving tarpaulins and other aid assistance from the UNICEF and World Vision organizations.
Photo: A school occupied by soldiers in Bentiu. Courtesy: UN SRSG/CAAC
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