S. Sudan has highest numbers of school drop-outs globally: U.N

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

April 24, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan has the highest proportion of out-of-school children among conflict zones globally, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said.

Continued civil war between the two South Sudanese rival factions is said to have been to have denied an estimated two million South Sudanese children access to education.

According to UNICEF, South Sudan has the highest rate of out of school children at the primary school level with close to 72% of children missing out of education. Chad at 50% and Afghanistan at 46% follow the list of nations with the highest rates of school drop-outs in global conflict zones.

According to the new report, the three countries also have the highest rate of girls who remain out of school, at 76% South Sudan, 55% of Afghanistan and 53% for Chad.

South Sudan has also recorded the second highest rate of out of school children at the lower-secondary school levels after Niger (68%). South Sudan at 60% is followed by the Central African Republic (CAR) at 55%.

UNICEF said the children denied access to education at conflict zones across the 22 countries across the world are children aged between 6 and 15 years.

“At no time is education more important than in times of war,” said UNICEF chief of education, Josephine Bourne.

“Without education how will children reach their full potential and contribute to communities and economies?” she asked.

Last year war-torn South Sudan was home to the highest proportion of out of school children in the world with 51% of primary and lower secondary age children forced to stay out of schools.

The U.N appealed for $25 million to get back children back to school.

The young nation attained independence in 2011, but plunged into civil war two years later after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy turned rebel leader, Riek Machar of plotting a coup, an accusation the latter denies.

(ST)