South Sudan’s education minister, Deng Deng Hoc Yai, wants to transform the country’s fledgling education system to deliver high quality, equitable education for all, while also creating “good citizens” with employable skills.
However, considering war-torn South Sudan’s unique challenges, a major concern remains around how to convince donors to focus on education as well as disaster relief. Years of conflict, famine, and political upheaval have taken their toll. The government says an additional 6,000 schools need to be built, but this year allocated only 4% of the budget to education. Now, thousands of children who fled as refugees are starting to return to the country, increasing the burden on the system.
Alongside the drive for quality education, the ministry of education is also focusing its message around the role education can play in promoting peace and security. This has led to the country’s first national curriculum, launched in 2015 with support from the Global Partnership for Education, which includes a focus on peace, the environment, equity, and inclusion both inside and outside the classroom. GPE allocated the government US$36 million in 2012.