Catholic Agency Faults South’s Education Budget Cut

An international Catholic refugee agency has criticized the government of South Sudan for slashing its budget for education by 25 per cent in the last three years.

This is despite the fact that school enrolment has been going up, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) said in a statement to mark the International Literacy Day today.

According to a UNICEF report last year, school attendance rates in Southern Sudan have tripled in the last four years. Since 2005, they have increased from 343,000 then the lowest in the world to more than 1.3 million.

JRS called on the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), aid agencies and the international community to allocate sufficient funds and assistance to improve education in the semi-autonomous region that is recovering from over 20 years of civil war.

Literacy rates are at 20 percent, and 10 percent among women.

According to JRS, GoSS has slashed its education budget by more than 25 percent, from USD 134 million to USD 100 million, in the past three years.

"This is particularly disappointing given the remarkable improvements in enrolment rates since the 2005 peace agreement," the refugee organization said.

"Education is the key to development. It enhances human dignity, helping people reach their full potential, improve their quality of life and become politically mature citizens," said the statement, signed by Fr Frido Pflueger, JRS director for Eastern Africa.

Fr Pflueger also said that more needs to be done to convince Southern Sudanese parents and communities of the value of education, especially for girls.

"The attendance rates for girls remain much lower than those for boys because of the economic hardship, in addition to socio-cultural values and practices, such as early marriage, which continues to prevent girls from attending school."

Shortages of trained and paid teachers pose another major challenge to education, according to JRS. "Only seven percent of primary teachers in Southern Sudan have received formal training. While another 48 percent have participated in in-service training, the remainder have received no training."

In the border county of Kajo Keji, JRS has trained three-quarters of the teachers since 2001. "But more teachers need to be recruited and salaries will have to be paid regularly if student-teacher ratios and staff motivation are to be enhanced", Andre Atsu Agbogan, JRS Southern Sudan director, said.

Source: http://www.cisanewsafrica.org/story.asp?ID=4116