Terekeka Primary Students Now Using New Textbooks
Students in primary schools and Accelerated Learning Program centres (ALP) in Terekeka County in Central Equatoria State have started to use the recently introduced textbooks which were provided by UK-Aid. 20 May 2013 Primary 8 students at St. Steven preparing English lessons. A total of around 9.6 million books and readers will be distributed to the schools in the payams across all ten States. [Photo: Huub Gales] By Jacob Achiek Jok BOR, 20 May 2013 [Gurtong] – A press release from UK-Aid says that 58,455 books have been contributed to 52 schools in the County as part of the ongoing national textbook distribution which provides teaching materials to more than 4,900 schools located in all States of South Sudan. However some schools initially missed out on the distribution because they were not included in the list of registered institutions as prepared by the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, the statement said. The Education Supervisor for Terekeka Payam, Mahmood Hamed praised the textbooks received at the schools. “They are easy to use, written in accessible English and have attractive covers and illustrations. Previously we used textbooks from many different countries which followed the guidelines of Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, all in the same school. That made the education of our children and the planning of lessons very difficult. These new textbooks follow the curriculum of South Sudan and unite the education at primary level,” he said. The Education Supervisor, who has been active in the teaching sector for 34 years, said that unfortunately three new schools in his Payam were not listed in the data base as drawn up by the MoGEI and therefore at first did not receive any books. However his office managed to find spare copies and provided the schools with some textbooks catering for lower grade primary students. Mr. Gale Cosmos, Mr. Sebit Amos and Mr.Wani Lino, the head teachers of Terekeka Primary School, St. Steven Primary School and St Mary Primary School all located in Terekeka, confirmed that their schools received the expected quantity of textbooks and other reading materials which is based upon their registered enrolments. Martin Laku Modi, a grade eight student in St Mary primary school said “in our grade we don’t have enough books and have to share the books amongst 5 students. This makes reading difficult as we can only use the books in turns”. The press release says that the head teacher of St Mary Primary school, Mr. Wani Lino, agreed with his students and urged the State Ministry of Education to supply more books, especially for the higher grades of primary education. “The complaint about the shortage of textbooks was taken up by the Payam Education Supervisor who raised it with the County Education Office,” he said. The grievance has been referred to the Central Equatoria State Ministry of Education in Juba about two months ago, but did not get a response. Head Teacher Mr. Sebit Amos appreciated the supply of new books and noted that the new teacher guides assist his colleagues with preparing lessons in a more efficient way. He emphasized that the teachers have to be creative with the materials available and should not only depend on what has been donated to them. In his consultation with students, teachers and education officials in Terekeka County Charles Bayley of Charles Kendal and Partners (CKP), the company tasked with the national textbook distribution, underlined that every County Education Director in South Sudan is supplied with extra copies of textbooks and teacher guides which should be used to provide new schools and to compensate for increased enrolment in the existing schools. Mr. Bayley clarified the current policy of the MoGEI which directs that that every primary student in grade five to eight will have to share the textbooks with at least two colleagues, while the pupils in grade one to four will have access to their own textbooks in all 5 subjects. He praised the initiative of the Payam Supervisor to supply the three recently established schools like for example Lokwene Primary School, which missed out on the initial allocation of textbooks and urged the education officials to use the available reserves to provide books to new schools and those schools which have an increased enrolment. He stressed that the textbooks must not be stored and should be used in the class rooms for the benefit of the improved education of the pupils and students. The national textbook distribution which started in December 2012, will supply all primary schools and ALP centres in South Sudan with textbooks and teacher guides. The books, which cover the 5 core subjects, are the first revised textbooks that have been written and designed by South Sudanese educationalists for South Sudanese children under the current national curriculum. A total of around 9.6 million books and readers will be distributed to the schools in the payams across all ten States. The deliveries are funded by UK-Aid through their Department for International Development (DFID) and are an initiative of the South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction. Posted in: Home, Education, Governance, Foreign Aid/Assistance -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
