Education

This report is part of the collection of publications on “Education, Conflict and Civicness in South Sudan”, which is the outcome of a collaboration between the South Sudan Studies Association (SSSA) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

South Sudan’s independence in 2011 reopened the debate about the use of indigenous languages as media of instruction at the early stages of schooling, which has intensified among African countries formerly under colonial rule. Many studies express concerns and criticisms about educational policies, specifically regarding the language of instruction. Before South Sudan gained independence, the language policy situation was more complex than today, due to numerous attempts by successive governments in the Sudan to Arabicise the educational system, leaving no room for consideration of the use of indigenous languages as media of instruction at the initial stages of education. Although there is sufficient empirical evidence in the literature which supports the use of indigenous languages as the media of instruction in the first three to four years of primary schooling, there are many vehemently opposed to this idea.

Background: A key part of treating and preventing malnutrition is the provision of effective nutrition education to the clients and caretakers so that they can self-manage their nutrition needs even after discharge from the hospital. For effective nutrition education,three factors are paramount; The successful transfer of knowledge and skills, client motivation to act on theacquired skills and knowledge and ensuring that the patient is able to understand and put to practice the educational messages given.

Methods: The study used cross sectional design with mixed method of data collection that involved 83 caretakers of admitted SAM children at Al-Sabah children hospital ITC, Sample size was determined using Cochran 1975, interviewer administered questionnaires and focus group discussion guide were the tools used in collecting data. Data set was generated using EPI info andanalyzed using SPSS version 21, the analyzed descriptive data was triangulated with the qualitative data collected using FGD.

Results: The majority of the caretakers were female 78 (94%) of which 68 (81.9%) were mothers to the children that were admitted. Only 8 (9.6%) of the respondents were found to have attained effective nutrition education and majority of the respondents were found not to be recalling the information they were given during the education session.Conclusion: As per the guidelinesadaptedby the ministry of health republic of South Sudan, the nutrition education sessions conducted was found not be effective as most of the clients could not even recall the information given.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked unprecedented havoc on children, families and communities around the globe, disrupting vital services and putting millions of lives at risk. Since March, attempts to avert the global health crisis have seen nationwide school closures in 194 countries, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners – over 90 per cent of the world’s school-going population.

For the most vulnerable children, especially girls, accessing education and staying in school is hard enough. The pandemic has caused additional, unanticipated disruption, and the likelihood of vulnerable children being able to continue their education has plummeted. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, 258 million children and youth of primary and secondary school age were already failing to access education. On top of that, the United Nations now estimates that nearly 11 million primary and secondary school learners worldwide – 5.2 million of whom are girls – are at risk of not returning to education following school closures due to COVID-19.

This report spotlights one particular vulnerability that is known to be exacerbated by school closures in times of crisis and risks the continued education of vulnerable children: teenage pregnancy. School closures during crises can result in girls spending more time with men and boys than they would were they to be in school, leading to greater likelihood of engagement in risky sexual behaviour and increased risk of sexual violence and exploitation. Teenage pregnancy is further linked to lack of sexual and reproductive health education and services, child marriage, health and well-being risks, and increased poverty and insecurity. Complications from teenage pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death of girls aged 15 to 19 years worldwide.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more out-of -school children than any other region in the world. It also has the highest teenage pregnancy rates globally, making the region uniquely confronted by how to address and accommodate pregnancies and young mothers in school. Policies range across the region –from outright expulsion of pregnant girls to strategies that support the continued education of adolescent mothers – yet social norms, practices and other barriers still typically result in pregnancy being the end to one’s education. World Vision estimates that as many as one million girls across sub-Saharan Africa may be blocked from returning to school due to pregnancy during COVID-19 school closures. With school closures related to COVID-19 threatening to lead to an increase in teenage pregnancy, sub-Saharan Africa is poised for a further crisis in girls’ education unless governments and partners act now.

This article analyses the teaching and learning of South Sudan history from 1955–2005 in secondary schools in South Sudan with a specific focus on national unity. The article argues that the national narrative of South Sudan is still closely tied to enemy images of the former enemy of Sudan in the north, while internal ethnic tensions are suppressed and excluded from the official national narrative taught in the classroom.

This study was conducted with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) provided specifically to prepare for the launch of Oxfam education projects in Pibor and Juba in South Sudan. However, its findings will also be useful to the wider NGO community working in the country, with recommendations provided for the Government of South Sudan and for future programming by donors. The analysis focuses specifically on education, but it also aims to analyse gendered power relations between men and women and boys and girls and the differences in their roles and responsibilities, decision-making power, the barriers and constraints they face and their coping mechanisms, along with the specific needs and concerns of girls and boys both in and out of school and gendered vulnerabilities and differential access to education in the locations selected. The analysis concludes with a set of recommendations to ensure that agencies can move forward in a way that meaningfully addresses the gender inequalities that prevent access to their programmes for women, men, boys and girls.