Rejina says she is a teacher in one of the Nursery Schools. She completed her senior four in 2018 and became a Nursery teacher before her senior four examinations results were out. She only had training on the new curriculum.
‘I’m a teacher. I completed my senior four last year in 2018. I started teaching on 21 Match 2018 before my results. So I attended teacher training last year about the new curriculum.
According to youths together for human rights, ‘No other profession is as important as teaching’ It is believed that the prosperity and ethical progress of any country depends on how and what the teacher does daily in the classroom. ‘If a student does not behave or do well in his or her studies, let’s turn to the teacher’.
Today’s children are tomorrow’s future and this depends on education. Yet in South Sudan, there are many untrained teachers in many schools who are given the responsibility to teach. A lot of the trained one’s quit the profession because of low and delayed salaries. Most of the teachers I talked to, did not have a diploma or other certificates. Neither did they attend a teacher training college.
One of the government head teachers in Yirol for example, is a senior four leaver who did not attend any college for training. He said the trainings he went through did not qualify him to be a teacher. He adds that out of twenty five teachers in his school, only one is qualified. He said he became a teacher in 2012 after finishing senior three and he has been appointed as a head teacher this year. He calls for training of teachers.
One of the qualified teachers argues that to become a teacher, one has to complete at least a diploma and go to a teacher training college.
‘To become a professional teacher in most cases, one must have gone to a teacher training college. Or one must have gone to a university or a college that trains teachers. If someone is not professional in most cases, one will lack the basics of handling the children’, the teacher explains.
A civil society activist says it is not a surprise that a number of schools are being headed by teachers who are not trained.
‘Obviously, it is not a surprise that a number of schools are being headed by untrained teachers. Teachers who totally have no qualifications stand in front of these children to teach’, Kolok stresses.
He adds that the education sector in South Sudan has got some challenges because of the ongoing conflict. But he said, the war should not be an excuse.
‘Of course, there are number of factors. One is that, this challenge has come as a product of the general environment where we are. However, we cannot just attribute all these problems and continue to watch the education system getting distorted simply because we are in war’ insisted.
Another unqualified senior two leaver Mary, is also a teacher. She said she became a teacher since 2008. She dropped out of school just after she was appointed a teacher. Now she has gone back to school this year to continue from senior two.
Meanwhile Jame David Kolok warns that education is not something that can be joked with.
‘The government ought to recognize that education is not something that can be joked with. It is a very critical aspect of a society. Therefore, if there is anything, especially budget projections, it is absolutely important that education sector is allocated a reasonable budget to be able to run itself. There are instances where the resources could be there; unfortunately you find cases of mismanagement of these resources’ Kolok regrets.
He adds that qualified teachers run away because of low payment.
‘The qualified teachers that would have been recruited by these schools run away because they are no longer paid. It is important that the Ministry of education have a very clear monitoring frame work that ensures most of these schools recruit qualified teachers. They need to make sure that these teachers are given the right pay, so that they sustain their families’ he urges.
He adds that pupils who are brought up by unqualified teachers are likely to complete school with nothing in their mind.
‘Otherwise, if we continue to attribute everything to the current challenges that we have, all our children who are currently in schools, especially within these last five years, are likely to complete primary or secondary schools with nothing in their heads. That means we are not building a very strong society, we are not building the right citizens who are able to lead the country forward. Therefore, as civil society, we continue to urge. Yes we understand these challenges, but I think some of the challenges are self inflicted that can easily be corrected’. he said.
South Sudan and Tanzania last month signed a five-year agreement for Tanzania to be sending Kiswahili teachers to the country. A decision not agreed by the civil society activist.
‘Before we look into people who can teach specific subjects, we need to put our house in order because education is not only about learning languages. I think at the moment, we don’t need additional task of importing teachers from outside. The truth is, South Sudan has got professional teachers. I personally know of a number of qualified, trained university graduates who are not teaching. So if we are able to give a reasonable pay, we’re likely to attract these guys back to the classrooms and we may not therefore need teachers from outside”, Kolok reiterated.
Meanwhile Deng Deng Hoc Yai says the ministry is expecting huge transformation in the education sector in the country.
‘We’re expecting huge transformation in the country, more children learning, going to secondary schools, more going to universities. We’re also expecting teachers to improve in terms of skills. We anticipate that the budget is going to be increased to fifteen percent in the next financial year. We anticipate that the teachers will be given additional allowances, including hardship allowance for those who will be working in remote areas. We’re implementing measures to improve quality of education in the whole country’, Deng promises.
He adds that the ministry has reformed the curriculum and that UNICEF has printed textbooks to be distributed by May this year.
He says the ministry has also trained over ten thousand Deputy and Head teachers on leadership and management.
Minister Deng pledges that the ministry will train over forty thousand teachers to ensure a better job’.
However Jame David Kolok says he has seen some significant progress in terms of their commitement to transform the curriculum. He appreciates Minister of Education, Deng Deng Hoc Yai, for the steps taken.
He calls for good salary pay and better conditions of service for teachers, to retain them in the profession.