Private institutions urged to contribute to education in South Sudan

December 6, 2010 (JUBA) – The regional government of south Sudan on Monday called for the contribution of private institutions in education sector to complement her efforts in provision of educational service in the region.

Addressing students returning from various Sudanese universities in the north, Kuol Atem, a director for alternative education at the ministry of general education called on the students and the public at large to exercise more patience saying that his ministry is trying its best to provide quality education to all groups.

“Education is one of the reasons why south Sudan went to war twice with the north. It was one of the grievances and caused of the repeated rebellions. The north was educating itself and gave no attention to the south, so we are taking the issue of education more seriously in the ministry,” explained Atem.

From 1955-1973 and 1983-2005 the south fought various Khartoum governments over political and economic marginalization, resources (oil and water), religion and identity. The latest civil war ended when the dominant parties of north and south agreed to share power and wealth of a six year period.

The deal culminates with a referendum in January, which most observers expect will see the south vote to secede from the north.

Atem asked the public and particularly those pursuing education at both higher and lower learning institutions to exercise patience saying South Sudan needs time to ensure that all its schools reach the required international standards.

”We need time to make our schools first class and this is a slow process. Rome was not built in one day,” Atem told the gathering of students.

The senior official noted that contribution of the private sector in ensuring the delivery of good quality education in the region was paramount, adding that there was no developing country that could afford to run the education sector alone without collaborating with the private sector as well as local communities.

”It is for this purpose that the governments introduced and launched go to school initiative in 2006 in order to address critical issues in education such as access to quality education and equitable education in terms of gender, geographical areas and ability to pay for education,” said Atem

The advisor said a lot of achievements had been realized after the implementation of the initiative by the ministry of education through involvement of UNICEF. He said that the ministry aims to improve the quality of education provision and infrastructure, provide teaching and learning materials and build of science laboratories and libraries.

He also said that the government has finalized an intensive internet education programs aiming at ensuring that information and communication technology is integrated in the teaching and learning process in all public and private schools.

”But these projects cannot be undertaken by the government without the help of the private sector and non-governmental organizations,” he said.

He thanked leaders and institutions of the government of south Sudan for cooperation in the establishment of the schools.

”Establishing the schools in this region can be successful without joined efforts, especially the ministry of finance in releasing funds for construction of schools”.

(ST)