About 6,730 learners inTwic County, Warrap State, have not been able to access classes for the last three months due to floods.

The County Education Director, Mawith Angok, said the flooding had impacted over 60 primary schools in five payams.

He said an estimated 2,586 girls have not been in the classroom for three straight months.

“We have 64 primary schools affected by the floods this year. Within these 64 primary schools are Akoc Payam, Pan-nyok Payam, Turalei Payam, Wunrok Payam and Aweng Payam. There are five payams in Twic County affected by the floods and out of 64 primary schools with a total number of 6,730 learners,” Angok explained.

Charles Magai, a student at St Augustine Secondary School in Turalei, said they have not been able to access classrooms due to the floods because one has to cross over seven swamps to reach school.

 “When you wake up in the morning to go to school, you fall in the water and all our books are destroyed …and it is a very big stream, it goes up to the school compound. So most of the classrooms were flooded and it is very difficult for us to sit in the classroom and for the teachers to come and teach. Some young children could not pass through the deep swamps,”  Charles said

Charles said he is worried that they might forget what they had been taught if stay longer at home without classes.

 “We have gone up to three months and 15 days without attending classes. Teachers taught us and we have to practise by reading but we cannot remember any topics that we were taught,” he said.

James Ayom Majok, a student at St Bakhita Primary School in Turalei said he had given up because it takes him two hours to reach his school.

“The floods began in August and it is very hard to access the school because there is water on the way. In the schools where the classes were made of mud had collapsed.  So it is very hard to stay inside maybe the house would collapse on us,” Ayom said.

The impact felt by boys in schools is shared equally by the girl child. Cecilia Nyibol, a student at Dr Justin Yai, a school in Turalei describes how she spent three months stuck at home.

“During the floods, I always came late to school and some teachers would fail to report to school. We missed some lessons like mathematics that is always taught in the morning but I always reported at 9 am. The floods were too bad for us. We always missed lessons,” Ms Nyibol said.

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The county director said the floods which started in August stretched for more than three months confined most pupils at home.

Angok said some schools located on lower grounds were advised to relocate to higher grounds.

He said parents were also advised to keep their young children at home to control the possible risks of pupils being drowned.

 “Most of the schools are closed by the floods and we tried our best to report the schools affected to the headquarters and partners to see how to rescue these schools,” Angok stressed.

“We had informed the community that if the school is flooded and the area is surrounded by the water and then there is no way you can send kids of 7 to 12 years to school. We have to see if there is an area located in highland so that we can relocate,” he said.

James Machar, a teacher at Dr James Yai Secondary School said the floods have forced impaired students to drop out of school.

“Some of them were using wheelchairs but the floods made it difficult for them to come to school. Those who are disabled could not make it to school and we had more than seven disabled students but now you can see only one present like three or four have dropped out,” James said.

Angok says the prolonged stay of learners out of school could trigger long-lasting effects on the children.

“If a child stays out of school for one or two months then when he goes to school again…it will be very difficult for that child to pass the exams,” he said.

In October 2021, the Ministry of Education assessed the situation in Twic County.

James Majok wants quick interventions by the government and partners to support students in flood-prone parts of the country.

“If the government would rehabilitate roads linking the schools especially those schools that are in the bushy areas, it would be very nice. Government should also provide learning opportunities such as distance learning so that the students cannot forget what they learned,” Majok said.

Angok is optimistic that the outcomes of the assessment would improve the situation of learners in Twic County.