Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, while launching the phased re-opening of schools in the capital Juba today, pledged to support the teachers of South Sudan.
“We commit ourselves to support the teachers during this difficult period and in my service delivery cluster, we shall help prepare their salaries,” the Vice President said. “I promise you I will work hard to deliver on this.”
Hussein urged the teachers to work hard and complete the syllabus in the short period left. The Vice President thanked the development partners who were at the function for supporting education in South Sudan. “I want to assure you all the Government of South Sudan will increase the education budget,” he said.
The partial school reopening for the candidates’ classes will enable them to complete the 2019/2020 academic year. Primary 8 candidates will sit for their final examination in early February 2021 while senior 4 candidates will sit for their final exams in the third week of March.
The partial reopening of schools comes amid declining COVID-19 positive cases in the country, according to government officials.
South Sudan has so far recorded 2,734 COVID-19 positive cases with 2,560 recoveries and 50 deaths as of Sunday.
On her part, Education Minister Awut Deng Acuil said re-opening of schools in phases was a difficult decision for them as a ministry.
“The coronavirus imposed on us re-opening the schools in phases. In phase two we will re-open the schools for all in April 2021. During phase one I know that most of the children will be at home but we will continue the distance learning programme with lessons on radio and television,” she said.
She revealed that with support from USAID, UNICEF has procured 32,000 radio sets to be distributed to remote areas across the country to help students follow the lessons. She asked parents to encourage their children, especially the girl child, to use the radios for continued education.
“A lot of work has gone into the re-opening of schools. In order to observe COVID-19 protocols, the ministry of education has prepared the schools to open safely,” she said.
Awut said washing facilities have been installed and boreholes will be dug in schools that have no water and students and teachers will be required to wear facemasks.
A young learner, Sunday Nyuon, said she was overjoyed that schools are re-opening. “I am really happy that we are reporting back to school. I ask my fellow students to be serious, read their books and prepare for exams and not mess around.”
The phased re-opening of schools in South Sudan today coincides with the World Teachers’ Day which is celebrated under the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimaging the future”.
The World Teachers Day is celebrated this year amidst a global crisis – the crisis of the COVID-19. But this crisis is by far not the only crisis that South Sudan is going through.
“Teachers here in South Sudan face multiple if not complex crises,” said Dr. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, the UNICEF Representative in South Sudan. “Teachers face the consequences of the conflict that started in 2013. Now comes the floods in some parts of the country – displacing people, including teachers and their families. We worry that these floods will exacerbate an already bad food security situation, which will affect teachers and their families, and will impact on their ability to teach.”
All the crises that have hit South Sudan, ranging from conflicts, floods, food insecurity and large-scale displacement to the COVID-19 offer some lessons for the country with regard to the role of teachers and the challenges they face.
Mr. Julius Banda, UNESCO Representative to South Sudan, said: “Today on this World Teachers Day we need to salute all the teachers of South Sudan for their dedication in ensuring continued access to education for all, specifically for the children.”