South Sudan bledges security for Kenyan teachers
Aug 9, 2006 (NAIROBI) — A high-level delegation from southern Sudan ended a three-day educational tour in Kenya on Wednesday and pledged security for its Kenyan personnel who will be sent to its vast region.
The governments of Kenya and southern Sudan signed an Education, Science and Technology agreement to cooperate in building up educational training and research capacity through skills upgrading, quality assurance and institutional management.
At the signing ceremony in Nairobi, Southern Sudanese EducationMinister Dr. Michael Milli said the region of southern Sudan was now safe to foreigners.
“Southern Sudan is one of the safest places in the world. No Kenyan has been killed in recent years as a result of insecurity.We respect foreigners and only fight amongst ourselves. Our country is even safer than some areas in Nairobi,” Milli told reporters.
“I am sure Kenya will join us in fighting the second war which is to fight illiteracy in southern Sudan. Security will be guaranteed to Kenyans who will volunteer to assist us as we struggle to reconstruct our country,” he added.
“We came to Kenya because we trust and hope that Kenya will continue to support southern Sudan. The agreement we have reached today will spell out areas of cooperation in the educational sector,” the minister said.
The 16-member delegation comprising three ministers and 13 senior officials arrived in Nairobi on Monday and visited learninginstitutions in the east African nation.
According to the agreement, the two countries will also cooperate in teacher education and management; curriculum development, examination, as well as technical and vocational education.
Kenyan Education Minister Dr. Noah Wekesa said it was needed todevelop an education system that can produce high quality human capital for the changing needs.
“The economic, technological and social challenges of this century require that, we place education and training at the center of our development efforts. The challenges we face require that we train people who can respond to local and international needs and challenges,” said Wekesa.
“I want to assure you that the people and the government of Kenya will work with you in your efforts to reconstruct and develop your country. You are free to call on us anytime you need us,” the minister told the delegation.
After more than two decades of civil war, the school system in southern Sudan is totally destroyed. Only about one child of threegoes to school. The teachers work for nothing or for very little that the parents can pay.
Aid workers say about half of the teachers in southern Sudan did not have any professional training, and just seven percent have a year’s training. There were only 1,600 primary schools in southern Sudan, and less than 200 of those were in permanent structures, they added.
Displaced by the conflict for years, some 400 teachers in and around Khartoum have reportedly expressed willingness to teach in the communities that have lacked adequate education.
(Xinhua/ST)