Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Tombura County Commissioner is calling on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to return home to allow the school-going age children to enrol back in school. This is in preparation for the school reopening that the government has scheduled for next month.
Matthew Mabenge said the county has been enjoying stability since the beginning of the year, with few returnees embarking on normal life.
He made the call during an interview with The City Review by the phone from Tombura on Friday.
Mr Mabenge said both the state and national governments have agreed to deploy additional forces in the county to maintain the existing calm and enable returnees to prepare their farmlands before rainfall.
“As soon as possible, forces are going to be deployed in Tombura. According to the agreement with the Division Commander, they are going to deploy one company to man the security, “he said.
“So, anyone who fled from Tombura, I am urging them to come back and renovate their houses and register their children in schools, “Mabenge added.
On Wednesday, the national Ministry of General Education and Instruction extended the resumption of the next academic calendar from April to May, ordering the state authorities to adopt the changes, and punish the violators.
On Wednesday, Kuyok Abuol Kuyok told the media that schools will reopen on Monday, May 2, but that we will use this time to encourage schools and teachers to register students and prepare schools for reopening.
“Schools are not opened on the fourth of April.”
Mr. Kuyok added that “the state authorities have to take measures against those kinds of schools that will try to open before May 2 because the academic calendar is supposed to be uniform with private schools.”
In January this year, Western Equatoria Governor, Alfred Futuyo, donated SSP 10 million to each of the 10 counties of the state to improve the learning environment, recruit more teachers, and facilitate the mobilisation of enrolment of every school-going age child back to school.
Though criticized, the governor argued that the move was inspired by his desire to reduce high illiteracy levels that have negatively impacted the development in South Sudan.
Tombura County, adversely affected by June 2021 inter-communal violence that disrupted systems, including schools facility, is yet to fully recover as thousands of its residents who fled remain in IDPs camps in various locations within and outside the county.
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