The Upper Nile state ministry of education have ordered that all schools in the state be closed due to an outbreak of meningitis in the region.

Kak Akol, the Renk county education director, confirmed that he notified all schools in the county to immediately close for a two week period yesterday, following an outbreak of the disease in state’s capital Malakal.

Schools in Renk county are currently suffering from severe overcrowding which renders them particularly vulnerable to the spread of disease among pupils.

“In fact, yesterday we received an official statement from the Upper Nile state education Director General informing us of the outbreak of meningitis disease in Upper Nile and there area number of infection cases (but) he didn’t disclosed their numbers. The statement ordered us in one word that we should close our schools from today the 15 of May up to 27^th of May,” Akol reported.

Photo: ECS church-run secondary school in Juba, South Sudan