Southern Sudan Education Background

By Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa*

Oct 22, 2005 — The South Sudan since the colonial rule had been treated and ruled separately, because of its multi-physical, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural diversities. Consequently, the education trend in the south took a different form under the British rule in the Sudan. South as result had been opened to Christian Missionaries only. And with the declaration of south as a “closed door”, south had been isolated from the northern part of Sudan and world at large.

The education in the south started by the Missionary Societies, but had been confronted with many problems. Vast distance and swamps made communication difficult. Unfair distribution of economic, social development and its concentration in the north (Khartoum), and the isolation of the south had made the development of education a difficulty task in the south during the early years.

Large variety of languages and absence of major local language for easy communication among the Southerners hindered the development of education. Widespread of diseases such as malaria and certain tropical diseases, suspicion of strangers due to the past experience of slave trading.

Pastoralists of certain tribes and the little knowledge of Europeans about the history and life of the different tribes are the factors contributed to the slow progress of establishing schools in the south. In addition to the British policy that south was not ready for exposure to the modern world.

Anthropological and sociological studies encouraged some European Missionaries to open schools in the parts of the southern Sudan.

Christian Missionary Societies were expected to emphasize social and educational work rather than proselytism. But on the other hand Missionary Societies made proselytism their main object of education. In which the establishment of a Church in the south went hand-in-hand with the opening of a school in the same premises.

Missionary Societies which took part in education in the southern provinces were, Italian Roman Catholic, Anglican Missionary Society and American United Mission. In this respect, south Sudan was divided into areas of influence and regulations to facilitate missionary work in 1905.

The Roman Catholic who had more experience in this field by their past connections and with its great financial resources, were able to provide more Churches and schools. Their education policy was based on the principle that “if a native wishes to learn he/she should be baptized”. Technical and industrial training were emphasized in the Roman Catholic schools, and they were able to put this into place and developed technical education in the schools through their priests, nuns and lay brothers.

The British and American Protestant Missions unlike the Roman Catholic, with its few financial resources stressed on literary education and emphasized the need to learn reading and writing as pre-requisites to baptism, which preferred Christian and liberal aspects of education over the technical aspects, but later turned to technical education.

The learning of the local language was a pre-requisite to the establishment of an effective means of instruction in the rural areas, unlike towns, till was later done either in English or Arabic as a medium of instruction.

Pidgin Arabic was widespread language in the south particularly in Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile Provinces due to their contacts with the Arabic-speaking tribes in the north, and till today Arabic remains as medium of communication among the Southerners.

The government policy was to instruct the natives through their own language and to teach them English which would be the unified official language of the indigenous blacks of the Southern Sudan.

In 1910 Bishop Geyer of Roman Catholic Mission, Bishop Gwynne and the Rev. A. Show of the Church Missionary Society conferred that English-speaking natives should be given priority in the government services over the Arabic-speaking natives as an incentive to learn English. And Gwynne informed Wingate that “government should encourage the use of English through business with natives”. This became the official policy and the three Governors of the southern provinces were instructed to implement the policy. English thus became the official language of the Southern Sudan in all government institutions till today.

The actual education started in the south with two schools established by the Verona Fathers in the Upper Nile province at Detwork and Lul in 1901, Bahr el Ghazal province at Wau and Kayango in 1905 and in Equatoria province in 1913.

The Sudan United Mission opened a small boarding school for boys at Rom and Paloich and co-education school at Melut in 1913. The Missionary Society established one school at Bor in 1905 and another at Malek in 1906 and third at Yei in 1917.

The type of schools provided were, Village/Bush, Elementary, Intermediate and Trading schools. Village/Bush schools were the base of education aimed at teaching children to know their own mother tongue and English as a second language. Elementary schools provided a four-year course and English was the medium of instruction for all subjects except religion taught in local language. There were few girls elementary school and they were taught besides the actual subjects’ domestic science. Intermediate schools were considered a high standard level of an English school which English was the only medium of an instruction for all subjects. From this came the first government officials, teachers and clerks.

World War 1 brought a setback to education progress in the south. Government feared that most of the Verona Fathers were of German and Austrian nationality might become anti-British activities in the south and north. And a committee which was set for this problem recommended the expulsion of the German and Austrian Missionaries in south. Thus many of the mission schools in the south were closed down.

In 1912 Wingate set up a committee to advice him on education and missionary affairs in the south. In 1918 a serious attempts were made by Bimbashi E. Grove, Inspector of Opari District at Mongala in Equatoris Province. In report to the Director of Intelligence, he appealed for the foundation of government schools as a pre-requisite to economic development in the south. He wrote that “no further progress in the administration or commerce in the south could be made till the natives were educated”. The administration required a class of native clerks who would read and write their own language, do the office work of their chiefs, and develop their country on intelligent and progressive lines. Sons of chiefs and certain boys should be educated for the purpose of filling the position of the Mamurs (Executive Officers) and native officers. He wanted the natives to be educated under the disciplinary system and to be brought up on military lines. He said that the government was responsible for the education of natives, and suggested establishment of two government schools. The first of these should be run by Church Missionary Society on behave of government, but not as part of the society’s schools and the teachers should be appointed by the government. The second school would be central school to which only sons of chiefs and certain boys be admitted for training as government officials and would be taught in English.

The Missionary Society succeeded in laying the foundation of education in the southern Sudan, but did little to the progress and development of education in the south. There was no proper educational plan in place or unified curriculum for the Missionary Societies in the south, as it was stipulated in their educational principles. Their major object and goal was to convert the indigenous blacks or pagan tribes of the Southern Sudan into Christianity. Meanwhile, education in the north was already geared and planned unlike in the south.

On the other hand, the colonial government in the Sudan had the upper hand to the slow educational, economic and social development in the southern provinces. By offering education to a certain class of Southerners, and by isolating, treating and ruling south separately with no definite intention of development in the south, and later leaving the south under the united Sudan without a potential or momentum power to be governed by the Northerners, was one of the factors for the disputes between south and north.

After the independence of the Sudan on January 1, 1956, and under the unified and centralized system of education, many Arabic schools were opened in the south with teachers from north to execute the new curriculum, thus, creating two patterns of education in the south (English and Arabic). Education progress and development in the south has been always interrupted by the continued conflicts between south and north.

With the birth of comprehensive peace agreement on January 9, 2005 and the new prospects of life in south, SPLM and government of south Sudan was expected to bring about proper educational foundation and system to the southern Sudanese, which was expected to be built on the actual circumstances of the Southern Sudanese community. Thus, having a genuine educational progress in place, it was expected also to reflect the true surroundings and environmental conditions of the South Sudanese people.

* Watts Roba Gibia Nyirigwa, is a Sudanese from Cairo – Egypt. E-mail: [email protected]