EDUCATION-MAR10-PG06:Page 6 26/02/2010 15:38 Page 6
News
Lack of teacher training at desperate
level in region of South Sudan
C
an you imagine teaching not only without
training but without primary school
education? This is exactly the situation most
teachers face in the scenic region of Ikotos, South
Sudan due to the civil conflict that has been
raging for the past two decades.
Turbulent Past
The Sudanese conflict between the Christian
South and the Muslim Arab-dominated North was
the world’s longest running civil war. 2 million
civilians were killed in Southern Sudan, and more
than 4 million southerners were forced to flee
their homes. The civilian death toll is amongst the
highest of any war since World War II.
Ikotos, a beautiful rural region nestled in the
Imontong Mountains on the border between
Southern Sudan and Uganda was devastated by
the violent conflict. As a base for the rebel group
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the area became
infamous for its violence. In 2005 the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed,
bringing respite from violence but the conflict has
left a legacy of poverty and deprivation.
We know how important education is to youth
67 out of 353 primary school teachers in the The project has secured sponsorship from the
in the U.K. But in Sudan, education is vital to the
Ikotos region received any training at all. Not only Government of South Sudan to train 50 new
recovery of a region. Education will enable Ikotos’s
are most of the teachers untrained but some have teachers every year. The training centre aims to be
next generation to escape a life of poverty and
not completed even primary school education. self-sustainable within 2 years. Without trained
lead prosperous lives. The future of the region
Few have access to basic teaching materials. teachers, education will be severely limited.
will depend on the young generation becoming
Without sufficiently trained teachers, increasing Many of the men and women who will receive
doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs. Conflicts flourish
the rate of school attendance will be ineffective. training have been tragically affected by the civil
where opportunity is stifled so education will be
With 11,809 pupils in Ikotos needing education, war and the new centre will give them a chance
vital to future peace and prosperity.
this is a desperate situation and a severe block to to leave their turbulent pasts behind and build
Ikotos’s recovery. new stable livelihoods. But more than this, by
Where are the Teachers?
ensuring that good quality education is available
UNICEF has launched an initiative to get children
Hope for the Future to the next generation of Ikotos, the training
back to school but there is a significant and un-
Thanks to a direct grant from World Emergency centre will help the region to overcome its recent
addressed gap in teacher training.
Relief (WER), local NGO All Nations Christian Care past and the poverty created by the conflict.
Education was near non-existent during the
(ANCC) is now building a teacher training college. World Emergency Relief
civil war and has been slow to recover. Schooling
With three rooms, two teacher trainers and an u+44 (0) 844 249 2129
mostly takes place in temporary shacks or under
array of teaching resources, the school represents uoverseas please call +44 20 7839 3854)
trees with limited or no teaching resources. Only
a future for the education services in Ikotos. uwww.wer-uk.org
6 FILMCLUB takes your pupils on a journey of FILMCLUB takes your pupils on a journey of
March 2010
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