Traditional culture in conflict with education (22.02.2011 00:00) - 585
Eighteen-year-old Betty Asha belongs to a privileged but tiny minority in Sudan - unlike most girls, she attends secondary school. "I am sure I am going to study until I finish university", she says, determined to secure herself a brighter future through education. Betty is in her third year at Yei Girls' Secondary School, made possible by a scholarship from her church.
"My uncle believes that taking girls to school is a waste of resources".
However pursuing her education has not been easy, with traditional cultural beliefs throwing up barriers every step of the way. When she was 15 years old, Betty's uncle started making preparations to marry her. In spite of her protests, and her mother's wish to see her finish school, her uncle remained unmovable. Betty stood her ground, and so her uncle started mistreating her at home, she says with the intention of pushing her towards marriage. "The situation would be at its worst whenever he returned home drunk", Betty recounted. "My uncle is a good caring person, but he believes that taking girls to school is a waste of resources".
According to the traditional Sudanese model, a girl of Betty's age is normally already married and a mother. Betty however firmly believes that in spite of all the cultural barriers in Southern Sudan, girls can excel in school as well as boys, and reap the benefits.
Southern Sudan's extremely low rates of school enrolment and completion of education are widely blamed on the devastating conflict that lasted over two decades. However according to UNICEF Education Officer Simon Mphisa, "Cultural beliefs were the key issues that hindered children, especially girls, to go to school in south Sudan."
UNICEF reports say that in 2006, shortly after the end of the war, of the 25% of children that went to primary school only 3% finished, and nearly 99% of girls did not complete primary school. The organisation then launched a 'Go to School' initiative to encourage school attendance in post-conflict South Sudan, and alongside efforts from the Government and other humanitarian organisations, the total number of children that finish primary school has now risen from 3% to 7%.
Pastor Lumayi Moses
For Pastor Lumayi Moses, a preacher in Yei, promoting western-style school education has led to the destruction of Sudanese values. "The whole of Sudanese society has gone astray", he said, arguing that people have mixed education with culture. Lumayi thinks education has done more harm than good, particularly in values relating to dress-code, age and gender. He blames this on Sudanese nationals who have studied abroad and copied how things are done in neighbouring countries. "You have always seen them when they come back here. It is hard to tell who is a man or a lady. They all put on trousers, and some boys wear dropping trousers, and they call it modernity! That's what education brings", he said.
Lalam Milcah
Lalam Milcah, the program manager of Reconcile International, an NGO doing post-conflict nation-building projects in Yei, strongly disagrees. "That argument is groundless", she said, adding that it is not education that has led to the decay of traditional culture in Southern Sudan. She explained that during the war, many Sudanese mingled with other people while living in refugee camps and in exile, thus adopting other cultural norms and forgetting their own. "It is not education destroying the Sudanese culture, but rather many cultures, including the western culture, conflicting with the traditions here". She said blame is wrongly put on education, but the truth of the matter is that everyone is struggling to identify their respective culture following disruption from the war, and in doing so they end up making mistakes which they later blame on education. As a result these mistakes have misled parents to deprive their children, especially girls, from education. "They say that if they educate a girl child, she will become unruly", she added.
Many NGOs, churches, individuals, and the Government of South Sudan have made efforts to help South Sudan recover from the effects of the war, and promoting education is a key focus. Although culture is still one of the biggest obstacles to education, the situation is gradually changing. Betty is one of the small but growing number of lucky beneficiaries of these combined efforts. She says she will continue her education for as long as her sponsor keeps funding her, and believes it will bring her success. "I want to be a doctor some day", she said. "But again, if it would be possible, I wish to become a pastor, too."
