Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Poni Kate Angel Kennedy, South Sudan’s little poster girl with an African crown, says she will join President Salva Kiir in advocating for education for all South Sudanese children.
Poni, who won the Africa Pageant contest in South Africa, said her first task after a successful debut on the pageant stage at the global level is to create awareness about access to education for all children.
According to Countrymeter.info, just about 2,169,639 persons (31.9 percent) of the adult population (aged 15 years and above) in South Sudan are able to read and write, while 4.6 of the 11 million adults are illiterate.
The literacy rate for the adult male population is 38.62 percent (1,311,786 persons) and 25.34 percent for the female population, respectively.
When competing in the just-completed Little Mister and Miss Africa pageant, where she won the title of Miss Popularity Africa, Little Poni vocally underlined the value of education, especially among girl children.
“I take this opportunity to thank you, my beautiful people, of South Sudan, for the endless support and love you have shown me from day one until the last day of my return from South Africa,” she said after landing back home early this week.
Queen Poni declared that the campaign to promote education will continue and urged all and sundry to join hands.
“The biggest battle to fight now is for the quality education of our boys and girls in South Sudan, therefore, I am calling upon each and every individual and the different stakeholder groups not to look any further but rather to come closer and stand with me together to promote quality education among children,” Queen Poni said.
“Words cannot convey how grateful I am to each of you for your prayers and for everything you have done to help me down this path of success and happiness,” the six-year-old model said upon her arrival from South Africa on Wednesday.
President Kiir declared war on illiteracy in the nation last March, including the declaration of free basic and secondary education for all citizens.
In recent addresses, Kiir urged parents to make sure that every child who is old enough to attend school is enrolled.
While in Wau Town on his peace visit, the president urged the parents to embrace the government’s free education initiative.
“No child should stay at home without being taken to school. I urged you to take all [children], especially girls, to school,” Kiir said last month.
He said every parent must ensure that all children are accorded a right to education.
“Girls are no longer sold for a high bride price but must go to school and contribute to the development of the country,” Kiir said.
Education leaders like the Minister of General Education, Awut Achuil, and the Vice President for the Service Cluster, Abdelbagi Hussein Akol, have been involved in the campaign.
VP Abdelbagi called on Jonglei State teachers who may have joined NGOs to return earlier this week since the government plans to drastically raise salaries.
He has also maintained his demand that unqualified instructors be removed from the government payroll and replaced with certified volunteer teachers.
Also, Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Sarah Cleto Rial reiterated that her administration will continue to support the free primary and secondary education that was announced by the president last month.
Cleto said her administration will work toward eradicating early child marriage and instead prioritize the education of the girl child.
Model Poni Angel finished the voting process with a total of 21, 046 votes, while her rival Tumelo Mmolotsi of Botswana received less than 16, 000 votes.
The 2023 edition featured about 41 contestants from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Sierra Leone, and Ghana.
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
