The Support for Peace and Education Development Programme (SPEDP), a local organization, on Tuesday launched the construction of a three-classroom block and a latrine at Yei Day Secondary School in Central Equatoria State’s Yei River County.
The project is part of the quick impact projects supported by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
SPEDP Project Officer Yeka Levi thanked UNMISS for the support to the education sector and improving learning conditions for students.
“This project of Yei Day happens to be the luckiest among the three projects that we had been struggling with since way back in 2023. We had a project for Morobo and one for Yei initially, but this was the last project that came in,” he said. “We are grateful that among all, God has answered your prayers as an institution. I also want to appreciate UNMISS for looking at education as the most important thing and supporting its development”.
For his part, Philip Taban Isa, the deputy director of education in the county, highlighted the urgent need for the additional classroom space and said that the collaborative efforts should continue, to boost the education sector.
“I want to appreciate your initiative for building another block for Yei Day Secondary School. We need more structures, but how do we get them?” he asked and said: “It is true that the collaboration of the government, community, and parents can support this institution and make education run smoothly in Yei.”
Meanwhile, UNMISS Representative Brigadier Dinesh Singh reaffirmed their commitment to work with local stakeholders to ensure the successful completion of the project.
“All these children are our collective future, so, this is a small contribution from our side towards our collective future. I would like to thank you all for including us in this collaborative effort,” he said. “I am sure that with the efforts of the dynamic team, the project officer and his team here, and the collaborative efforts of Mr. James Mogo, our sole representative here, and very good guidance from the county commissioner himself, we will be able to have a very good project here for our children”.
On his part, Yei River County Commissioner Emanuel Taban Seme called on development partners to prioritize critical infrastructure projects, including schools, markets, and health centers.
“We need to keep on developing. When most of our partners came to Yei, they said we are here only for emergency response yet they do developmental projects in the other regions. This has become an issue of concern for me as son of this soil,” he said. “If you can construct a school, business center for women, health center, and other developmental projects in the other states, why not in Yei? We are also vulnerable like other citizens in South Sudan because the war affected the whole country. I am very pleased to see that we are now adding a new classroom block, however, we need more blocks.”
The education sector in Yei River County still faces challenges in the aftermath of the 2016 conflict that resulted in the looting and destruction of schools. As communities return home from the refugee camps in neighboring countries, most of the schools are now overcrowded which has affected the quality of education.