Primary examinations begin nationally, amid underlying thorny issues
Deputy Minister of Education reveals good progress in admissions, an increment of 9,404, which is 13.5 per cent in the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE).
By James Chatim
South Sudan’s Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examinations, also referred to as Senior eight, officially kicks off today across the country, with a total of 78,859 pupils, pupils comprising of 43,188 males and 35,671 females registered to sit for primary school examinations in 1,814 schools clustered into 520 centers across South Sudan, according to a recent statement issued by Deputy Minister of General, Hon. Martin Tako Moyi.
Among the most significant developments in the education sector is the increment in admissions. Compared to last year’s 2023 entries, Tako said, CPE candidates were 69,455, with 38,497 males and 30,988 females. This representing an increment of 9,404, which is 13.5 per cent in the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE).
However, questions around funding and budgets for teachers that mark examinations have been a challenge in the past, in what caused a delay in release of the last year’s results. During the announcement of primary examinations starting date, the Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi called for the inclusion of examination marking costs into the 2024/2025 fiscal year national budget to avoid result delay after the education ministry took eight months to complete the marking of 2023/2024 South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education (SSCSE).
Abdelbagi highlighted that the budget constraints is one of the institution’s biggest challenges in ensuring a timely marking of national examinations.
Secondly, delay in salaries of teachers among other key civil servants in the education sector, has also threatened the quality of education deliver and output, a matter of concern that has also invited the voice of the National Minister of General Education, Awut Deng, who equally attributed the delay in marking of the CSE examination papers and the challenges that the teachers faced due to delayed salaries.
According to a 2020 UNICEF report, South Sudan is not sufficiently prioritizing children’s education. While the internationally agreed standard for education allocations is 20 per cent of the national budget, South Sudan only spent 5.6 per cent for 2019-2020 year, according the national budget. This is the lowest public education spending in East Africa, recent studies say.
According to the report, 2.2 million children do not have access to quality education in the country, which jeopardizes the future of the entire country.
Poverty, discrimination due to gender, disability, ethnic origin or language of instruction, physical distance from schools and poor infrastructure are among the obstacles that continue to prevent the poorest children from accessing quality education. Exclusion at every step of education perpetuates poverty and is a key driver of a global learning crisis.
The UNICEF report noted that the lack of resources available for the poorest children is exacerbating a crippling learning crisis, as schools fail to provide quality education for their students.
In South Sudan, lack of public investment in education is contributing to the critical shortage of qualified teachers. An estimated 62 per cent of primary teachers and 44 per cent of secondary teachers are not qualified. Also, many teachers leave the profession due to salaries not being paid on a regular basis.
As primary eight begin their examinations today, parents and teachers from Western Equatoria State have raised concerns about the future of education in the country.
They said teachers have spent about a year without receiving salaries and believe that without the government’s commitment to paying its employees in time the future of South Sudan stands at risk.
Speaking in the eve of the examinations, a student from Yambio Model Girls Boarding Secondary School in Yambio County highlighted the sacrifices made by teachers who have not been paid for nearly a year.
“The problem in the education system in South Sudan is the lack of paying teachers, if they could be paying teachers in time and increasing their salaries, we could have quality education,” the students said.
“But because of these delays, we face challenges. We are begging the government to train our teachers and motivate them. Without this, there will be no improvement in education.”
Still in Yambio, a pupil from Gracia Nassery and Primary School called for increased security as a fundamental requirement for effective learning.
“There are areas where, when peace is absent, students like us face severe challenges just trying to get to school and focus on our studies, without stability, education becomes a burden,” he explained.
This call to action is not just from the students themselves but is supported by parents and teachers who see firsthand the crumbling state of education. Mr. Samuel James, a teacher from Ezo County, spoke with concern about the conditions affecting educators.
“We have dedicated our lives to teaching, but going without pay for months creates a big challenge. Many teachers have left the profession or taken up other jobs to survive and the children are suffering as a result,” he lamented.
The stakeholders made a general call on the government to refocus its attention on the sector. The increase in students’ admission is the fast commendable step. More can still be done.