{"id":12653,"date":"2022-03-15T12:09:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T12:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/investigation-education-ministry-frustrated-multi-million-dollar-project"},"modified":"2022-03-15T13:15:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T13:15:02","slug":"investigation-education-ministry-frustrated-multi-million-dollar-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/investigation-education-ministry-frustrated-multi-million-dollar-project","title":{"rendered":"Investigation: Education ministry \u2018frustrated\u2019 multi-million dollar project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>Top officials in South Sudan\u2019s government scrambled and jostled over a $55 million USAID project grounding a grand plan for building schools, according to investigations carried out by Radio Tamazuj.<\/p>\n

The officials said to be angling for the schools to be built in their preferred territories failed to agree and erected barriers for the US-funded project to take off.<\/p>\n

A five-year conflict in South Sudan that killed almost 400,000 people and displaced millions has left 2.2 million children and adolescents displaced and without access to education, according to UNESCO\u2019s Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children.<\/p>\n

Sources that spoke to Radio Tamazuj say that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had resolved to terminate the multi-million education infrastructure project after senior officials at the Ministry of General Education and Instruction disagreed over where temporary learning spaces and schools would be built.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ministry was fighting over where the schools would be built until USAID pulled out from the project before it started. The contractor was in place and had hired its staff and set up its office in Juba to implement the project,\u201d a source with close knowledge of the project said.<\/p>\n

When contacted, Erica Rousenfell, Education Director at USAID South Sudan, confirmed the ending of the project saying, \u201cYes, the Education for Peace, Recovery, and Resilience (EPRR) project ended. EPRR was a USD$55 million USAID-funded education project designed to expand access to learning opportunities for South Sudanese students in a safe and protective learning environment while reinforcing resilience efforts and recovery trends for children and youth who are most affected by conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world’s premier international development agency further said it terminated the project in July 2021 because \u201cit was not fully aligned with the priorities of the Ministry of General Education and Instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUSAID consulted with the Ministry of Education during the project design process, followed by USAID signing a contract in August 2020 with FHI360, the implementing partner for the EPRR project,\u201d Erica Rousenfell said. \u201cAt the conclusion of the project, FHI360’s international project staff departed the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the USAID official, it had not yet been determined how many temporary learning spaces and schools would be built, but the plan was to support 400,000 South Sudanese students.<\/p>\n

On its website, FHI360, the implementing partner for the EPRR project, said the project planned to ensure that learning structures were safe, equitable and comfortable for students and teachers and meet with community needs. General Education Ministry officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The frustration of the $55 million education project by the Ministry of General Education \u2013 which relies heavily on donor aid to run public schools \u2013 raises the question of whether equitable education for children is a government priority. This also contradicts the General Education Strategic Plan, 2017-2022, which aims to achieve four important priorities: to ensure equitable access to general education; to improve the quality of general education; to enhance the management capacity of senior staff of the national ministry, state ministries, the county education department and affiliated institutions.<\/p>\n

Lack of access to schools<\/b><\/p>\n

In Eastern Equatoria State, for example, many schoolchildren complain of long distances to access schools in most parts of the state. Some pupils could walk for one hour daily to attend classes, and sometimes don\u2019t go to school as they get discouraged by the long distance to get to school.<\/p>\n

Jidden Debee, a primary school pupil residing in the Enyif area, said: \u201cI am studying at Torit West, I am 18 years old, and I am from Enyif residential area. From the Enyif area up to school, it takes me about an hour. So, the challenges that we face is that there are floods sometimes and young children cannot move if there is a lot of water. For big people like me, we remove our clothes then we cross the river to the other side, but young children cannot manage during exams,\u201d he narrated.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Abau, a resident of the Addis Ababa area in Torit, complains that the distance from their home to school makes learning difficult as she misses some lessons.<\/p>\n

\u201cMovement from home to school at Torit West takes more than 30 minutes, sometimes we find teachers have already given the lessons, that\u2019s why some of us fail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Loboi Clement, the Director of Education in Torit County, admits that schools are not enough, especially in remote areas, and that there is a need for urgent intervention from the government and its development partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that the schools are not enough. You know, the Ministry of Education has a plan to open schools in places that are lacking schools because we have few secondary schools in Torit County,\u201d Clement concluded.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Top officials in South Sudan\u2019s government scrambled and jostled over a $55 million USAID project grounding a grand plan for building schools, according to investigations carried out by Radio Tamazuj. 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