March 7, 2013 (BENTIU) - South Sudan’s new syllabus is being introduced to teachers in Unity state this week through a workshop organised by Charles Kendall Consulting, a British business our are distributing the country’s new text books.

Charles Bayley from Charles Kendall & Partners briefing teachers in Unity State about South Sudan’s new curriculum textbooks March 7, 2013 (ST)

After decades of conflict and chronic underinvestment the education system in South Sudan has has some the lowest literacy rates in the world.

Since a 2005 peace deal investment and attendance has increased dramatically but many teachers still lack training and lack of materials remain a major problem at both primary and secondary school.

To address the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), in partnership with South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, has agreed to procurement 9.2 million text books.

South Sudan’s primary schools will receive textbooks and teaching guides from grades 1- 8 in five core subjects of Mathematics, Science, Social studies, CRE and English to be taught in primary level from p1-p8.

In Central Equatoria state the textbooks with the new curriculum have successfully delivered to schools in at state, county, payams [district], boma [sub-district] and village level in December last year.

Charles Kendall Consulting are now transporting textbooks to Warrap, Western Bhar-El-Gazal and North Bhar-El-Gazal states. The team has visited Unity state to explain the distribution plans at a workshop on Wednesday and Thursday before the textbooks are imported to state.

Inyani Raymond Modi, a representative of South Sudan’s Ministry of General Education and Instruction in the department of curriculum development, said that the distribution of textbooks is not the first since the country achieved independence in 2011.

Similar textbooks were distributed in 2007 and 2008 but the new editions were an improvement in content and appearance, he said, as they have been revised and printed in colour.

Transporting the textbooks to South Sudan has been a big challenges as some areas are extremely remote areas without proper roads and schools buildings.

Modi said that the government was working hard to ensure to textbooks are stored safely in remote areas.

“We still do realized that there are certain schools more specially those one under trees it is quite difficult to deliver books, because you will only find one tree and it has huge number of roman but there is no teacher nearby, there is no head teacher nearby so it become difficult for those books to be deliver under the trees, so mostly what the distribution company does, is the either take it to Payam education office or even they leave to County”, added Modi.

Simon Riak Biet, the education director for Mayiandit County of Unity State, says distribution will help all pupils in South Sudan but warned that many teachers had left the profession for more lucrative employment non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in order to support their families.

(ST)