South Sudan in collaboration with UNICEF launched ‘Back to Learning Campaign, to provide learning opportunities for pupils in South Sudan.
The 2019 initiative will enroll over 700,000, including 291,600 girls in early childhood development, primary and alternative education programmes.
In a statement seen by CRN, the learning initiative aims at children deprived of their right to education due to conflict, poverty, cultural barriers and access to distant schools.
It says the 2019 Back to Learning campaign also aims at establishing or rehabilitating 437 classrooms with gender-sensitive water and sanitation facilities.
The program also aims at training 5,000 teachers on pedagogy, peace building, life skills and psychosocial support.
It will also train members of 600 parent-teacher associations, PTA and school management committees.
Minister for General Education and Instruction, Deng Deng Hoc Yai urges children to take education seriously.
‘In accordance with the Constitution, education is your right as a citizen of the Republic of South Sudan. It is now time to exercise it. So, I urge you to take education seriously,’ he told the assembled crowd in Renk.
UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan, Andrea Suley says education does not only provide children with knowledge and skills, but it also saves lives.
‘A child, whose mother can read, is 50 percent more likely to live past the age of five. Going to school also provides a sense of normalcy in children’s lives, helping them to heal after years of conflict, while unlocking their potentials.’
Meanwhile, UNICEF has appealed for 45 million US Dollars to provide essential education services.