Jesuit Refugee Services or JRS Maban Education Coordinator quoted Fashoda County Education Director in Upper Nile Adwok Kiir as saying many instructors left their profession and joined the military because their monthly salary is 270 South Sudanese Pounds while an SPLA soldier receives one thousand Pounds.
Fr Alvar S√°nchez in a statement CRN obtained on Thursday, said teachers should be paid nearly four times than the military personnel to remain in their profession and realize quality education.
He called on the international community to make a long-term investment in education to realize lasting peace as the cost of violence and ignorance would be felt in South Sudan for years to come.
Fr S√°nchez said educating girls is the first step to help them realize their rights, become self-reliant and reduce their levels of dependency, gain self-esteem and believe they can have power over their own lives.
Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicol√°s described education as an ’emergency’ that should not be suspended or postponed because wars and natural disasters affect people for years.
Jesuit Refugees Service Maban Assistant Education Coordinator Isaac Malish said two-third of children not able to access education throughout the country are girls and that only six percent of them finish primary school, but 42 percent marry before they reach 18 years.