EU extends teachers’ incentive programme in S. Sudan
July 4, 2021 (JUBA) – The European Union (EU) has extended the incentives given to primary school teachers in South Sudan under the Impact Education Project for additional three months.
The EU has, through its ‘IMPACT’ project, been instrumental in maintaining the country’s education system from 2017 to 2020.
The incentives complement salaries that the government owes teachers.
In May 2021, both the Ministry of Education and the EU agreed to pay further incentives of 21,400 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) to 33,000 primary school teachers at the end of the first term.
“The European Union has been and still is a key partner for education in South Sudan. We are extremely happy that we have been able to secure additional fund to extend the IMPACT Programme for three more months,” said EU Ambassador Christian Bader during a joint press conference held in Juba last week.
“We hope that this will contribute to teachers’ motivation to return to schools following the reopening of schools,” he added.
According to the official, the EU remains fully committed to support the education in South Sudan, where the enrolment and attainment of girls, as well as the situation of those internally displaced (IDPs) and returnees need to be thoroughly addressed.”
For her part, the General Education Minister Awut Deng Acuil commended the European body and its member States for their relentless support to the education sector in South Sudan.
She, however, said teachers’ salaries are being reviewed with the optimism that it will motivate teachers to keep in their classrooms.
In April 2017, the EU and South Sudan government launched the IMPACT project, with Cambridge Education’s parent company, Mott MacDonald, contracted as project manager. IMPACT pays incentives equivalent to $40, on a quarterly basis, to primary school teachers. This intervention aims to prevent the exodus of qualified teachers nationwide and promote teacher attendance.
Under the IMPACT project, primary school teachers in 3000 schools have been paid incentives equivalent to $40 on a quarterly basis, which has greatly helped teachers to carry on with their work, despite the many challenges they faced.
(ST)