Homework for a new nation [part 4]: Train more teachers

During celebrations at the campus of the Yei Teacher Training College (YTTC), Principal James Kepo said education is crucial to the development of the new republic, and that a lack of qualified teachers condemns the nation’s children to a bleak and uncertain future.

Poor education degrades humanity and blocks the path to progress,” said Kepo. The backbone of South Sudan is not agriculture or oil, but its people.”  

Rebuilding a war-ravaged country requires a wide spectrum of skills and above all, literacy. But both are lacking in South Sudan, and so are the trained teachers to turn that around.

Manase Lomolo, Education Minister and Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria State, raising the national flag at YTTC.Kepo said it is vital that the government of President Salva Kiir provide support for teacher training institutions so that education across the country can get on the right track.

Otherwise, he insisted, South Sudan’s development will be stalled.

While praising donor partners for their support of the college over the last ten years, Kepo noted challenges such as inadequate study space and accommodation for students  from all ten states of South Sudan, as well as from the north.

Hilary Luate Adeba, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Yei, urged citizens to join forces in nation building by taking ownership of viable projects in their communities, rather than relying solely on donor organisations to carry out development.  

Even people with huge sums of money don’t want to give,” Adeba said.

In a homily, Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS), said South Sudan is in need of "transformation," and that begins with competent teachers.  

Borrowing from the biblical parable of the good shepherd whose flock listens when he speaks, Deng Bul said the country is looking for leaders and teachers to help point the way forward.

Many people have shied away from becoming teachers, according to Jacob Aligo Lo’Ladu, a member of the state assembly. The profession should be promoted    with more resources and better payment for teachers, he added.

Lo’Ladu’s pledge of 5,000 South Sudanese pounds, or nearly $2,000, to support the teaching college was matched by John Malish, another state assembly member.

Read also the other articles of the series:       - "Homework for a new nation [part 1]: Alternatives for street children"/                      - "Homework for a new nation [part 2]:     Better care for people with disabilities" /         - "Homework for a new nation [part 3]:       Stop the gender war on women and   promote their rights instead".

Central Equatoria’s Deputy Governor and Minister for Education, Manase Lomole acknowledged the number of trained teachers on the state payroll was too low, as is their salary, which partly explains why few are drawn to the profession.  

Central Equatoria State has only two teacher training colleges. The other is located in Kajo-Keji.

Lomole disclosed that training would be compulsory for unqualified teachers and  two or three from each district, or payam, would be selected to enroll in teachers’ colleges.

He was hopeful that this arrangement would ensure that at least 75% of the teachers would be trained in the coming years.

Lomole promised greater assistance by the government and acknowledged that support of the teaching college had been weak. He also responded to concerns that the Public Service Ministry discouraged people from joining the teaching profession and pledged to make it more attractive by requesting that graduates be considered two years earlier, with assurances of more generous salaries.

"Traditional culture in conflict with education" by Ochan Hannington

The deputy governor called for a spirit of self-sufficiency and ownership of community initiatives to ensure their sustainability.

Every boma [community government] must take an initiative to make bricks so that we shall be able to see where to direct donors in supporting community projects,” Lomole told the gathering.

He pledged US$1,000 to support the college where a foundation stone for a girls’ dormitory, to be constructed under the Harriet Memorial Fund (HMF), was also laid during the anniversary celebrations.

The HMF was established in memory of Harriet Ziraba, a spouse of the college principal, who died in a car accident in northern Uganda last year.

Nicholas Ramsden, an education monitoring officer for the Basic Services Fund (BSF), a donor nation group, said the government, local communities and church institutions should join forces with donors to improve the training of teachers in the new republic of South Sudan.

The country needs about 45,000 primary school teachers in the first few years following independence, according to Ramsden.

"School now, marriage later: an uphill battle for South Sudanese girls" by Benjamin Majok

He disclosed that BSF had earmarked the equivalent of $1.2 million for scholarships to benefit 100 teacher trainees at YTTC, with ten students chosen from each state of South Sudan over a period of 18 months.

The Basic Services Fund is principally supported by the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Denmark and managed by the South Sudanese government.

Ramsden urged the government to fulfill its pledges to include college tutors on the payroll and extend grants to YTTC.