EDUCATION PROGRAM

Main activities

• Increase school enrolment
• Improvement of quality of primary education
• Provision of school materials
• Provision of school feeding and girl incentives

Effective education is either neglected or absent in large areas of Upper Nile, causing alarming levels of illiteracy. Current estimates range from 63% illiteracy among men, 88% illiteracy among women (survey made in S. Sudan during the period 1998-2000). The estimates for youth are 54% illiteracy among male youth, 84% for female youth (2000-2002 period).

This impacts the communities’ ability to take advantage of development opportunities, and learn from new sources of information. This results in reduction in opportunities to expand and develop the economy. This can also result to insecurity due to reduced levels of effective communication and understanding.

Since UNKEA has realized the above effects, we communicated this information to several funding bodies and Food for the Hungry International-Sudan responded to the proposal. We then started a program to put up rubb halls and also establish a training centre for teachers.

This shall be in line with our stated vision, “To see a competitive Southern Sudan, with productive and God-fearing people.” The project will help fast track our mission and obligation to the people of Southern Sudan, to realize, “Progress, development and provision of better services to local people in Southern Sudan and empowering them politically, socially and economically.” As always, we shall undertake to realize the project mandate and inculcate values of integrity, accountability, transparency and neutrality

We appreciate the efforts of FHI-Sudan for their support financially and materially. We also thank the community, our staff, the government, stakeholders and UNKEA’s hope that FHI-Sudan will continue supporting this program.

Objectives and Goals

• UNKEA/FHI-Sudan have erected three rubb halls each with a capacity of six classes (65 pupils per class). The school was planned in strategic place and is able to serve several villages in Nasir County.
• UNKEA/FHI-Sudan has established a training centre for teachers in Mandeng.This is the second year of implementation with 35 graduates for 2006 and 29 now in training.
• Specific components are included to introduce effective education for girls. Education for girls is hampered by parent’s unwillingness to send them to school, harrasment and daytime rape, traditional perception that girls don’t require education. Separate classes for girls use the same building and include female chaperons.
• Small financial incentives and material support are given to sustain the teachers with long-term support from PTA and local authorities after the government absorbs these facilities. A small personal reference library is provided to each teacher to encourage study and provide written resources for lesson planning. This encourages trained teachers to persist in the midst of difficult conditions in the villages and towns of Upper Nile.
• In this program, we promote community awareness and outreach programs so the importance of education is more widely understood by parents and communities.
• UNKEA works with local authorities and Government of South Sudan to ensure that the curriculum used is inline with Ministry of Education standards.
• Special units are included in the curriculum like water purification and conducting health education.
• School latrines have been constructed with separate latrines for girls and boys.
• For sustainability of the program, UNKEA supports the staff with items like raincoats, gumboots and treated nets to facilitate their movements even during the rainy season.
• Using workshops and groupwork, UNKEA and the SSRRC has established effective linkages between the school, PTA, community leaders and the secretariat of education. This will facilitate relationship and recognition of the institution.
• UNKEA/FHI procures books, stationery, and training materials for the agreed curriculum and stored with light metal boxes to prevent insects’ infestation. This ensures that the teaching and training is updated with current syllabus of the Government of South Sudan.
• To recognise and improve the living standards of the locals, UNKEA buys furniture from local craftsmen for the school.
• This project will help build local coping mechanisms by bringing basic literacy and numeracy. Local capacity cannot be fully realized without a literate population therefore the output of the project is a literate society.