The Ministry of General Education and Instruction has said that only existing government and faith-based schools will get a share of a 1 billion SSP capitation grant which was officially announced earlier last month.
Deputy Minister of General Education and Instruction Martin Tako Moyi says private and government schools that are not operational will not benefit from the capitation grant.
“Minister declared, that we have received capitation grant for all the schools in South Sudan, I mean the public schools, not private schools, yes this money is in our account and we are processing sending this money directly to individual schools not to the ministry of education, so that this money benefits the students, the teachers for the first time,” he said.
Tako says the National Ministry of Education will not transfer the capitation grant unless schools prove they are fully operational.
“We are declaring here that we will not transfer the capitation grant to the schools unless we prove that the school is existing and there are children learning in that school and this is going to take place immediately.”
He adds that the Ministry will send directors across South Sudan to verify all the schools which are existing before giving the grant.
We have noted that there are public school administrators still charging children higher than expected and that we are warning the public school administrators to stop, Tako Moyi states.”
He says the government will close down schools that are not following the Education Act in South Sudan.
He clarifies that the capitation grant is not for teachers’ salaries, but for the development of schools.
According to the Deputy Minister, each school will be receiving the capitation grant according to the population of the students or pupils.
“The size of the schools are not the same, there are schools with very few learners and some of the compounds are even smaller than others, so the amount cannot be uniform for every school.”
He also highlights the marking of primary examinations, citing that it is ongoing and soon the results will be announced.
He regrets the late marking, saying the Ministry is doing its best to make sure Senior One joins their classes as soon as possible.
The Deputy Minister urges state educational authorities to monitor schools with respect to the new academic year to provide quality education to children in South Sudan.
A week ago, the National Minister of General Education said the Ministry of Finance released one billion South Sudanese pounds in a capitation grant meant to support free education in the country.
The announcement came after President Salva Kiir ordered national and state authorities to fully implement policy as stipulated in the interim constitution.
February this year, President Salva Kiir Mayardit directed the national Ministry of Finance to immediately release the capitation grant.