South Sudan: Plan International launches two-year education program
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By Julius N. Uma
August 25, 2011 (JUBA) - Plan International has, in a bid to boost
education in South Sudan, officially launched a two year project
targeting 3,000 girls and 2,000 boys.
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Plan International workshop, South Sudan, August, 19, 2011 (Chritine Foni)
The initiative is part of “Because I Am A Girl” (BIAAG) and “Learn
Without Fear” (LWF) initiatives, which will also benefit parents;
teachers; community and church leaders; social workers; and the media
fraternity.
The counties of Rokon, Lainya, Terekeka and Yei in Central Equatoria
state will reportedly benefit from this project, courtesy of funding
from Plan Sweden.
Speaking during a one-day orientation held in Juba, the South Sudan
capital, Domini Mutabazi, the acting country director Plan South
Sudan, underscored the vital role education plays in the development
of any nation.
“The project is aimed at increasing the number of girls accessing
education by limiting the numbers of girls being subjected to early
marriages as well as supporting married young girls to stay in
school,” he said.
Mutabazi urged the South Sudanese population to embrace the culture of
sending children to schools, saying depriving the young ones of access
to education is a violation of their fundamental human rights.
David Lowilla, the state director general in the ministry of
education, science and technology decried the low rate of female
enrolment in schools across the country, agitating for the full
implementation of the female education policy.
“When you train a girl, you educate a nation. This is a common quote
that South Sudan needs to adopt,” he said, while urging all
stakeholders attending the workshop to help Plan International in the
implementation the project.
Tobias Loyata, the organisation’s program support manager reiterated
Plan South Sudan’s commitment toward the promotion of girls’
education, saying their work is underpinned by the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Recently, while addressing the first opening of the newly created
National Assembly, South Sudan President, Salva Kiir said improving
the country’s education sector remains a key priority in the
implementation of the much-hyped South Sudan Development Plan (SSDP).
South Sudan’s literacy rate is 73 percent according to the Ministry of
Education, 27 percent according to the CIA and one of the lowest in
the world according to most observers.
An estimated 340,000 children, according to the UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), were enrolled in primary schools at the time Sudan’s 2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed.
In 2009, it adds, primary school enrolment was at 1,362,941 - about
860,000 boys and 502,000 girls. But, according to UN Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), less than two percent
of these children complete their primary school education.
(ST)
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