Neglected aspects during the Reconstruction of Education Systems in Post-conflict Contexts:
Case study of South Sudan

he people of South Sudan have been forced into a series of emergency situations by senseless wars that have been promoted by successive governments of Sudan from the onset of Sudan’s independence from the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Rule. According to Douglas H. Johnson, Sudan was the first African territory administered by Britain to be granted independence after World War II with Sudan’s civil war also being the first in post-colonial Africa having started a few months before independence on 1 January, 1956.

Sudan’s civil war is complex and it is difficult to single out a specific cause of why it started. The conflict has been drawn primarily along religious and ethnic lines between the predominantly Arab and Muslim government based in the north and the Christians and animists from a variety of ethnic groups. In justifying this argument, the military government of President General Abbud followed a policy of Arabization and Islamization in the south of the country, focusing on education. The missionary schools were transferred over to government control and the Arabic language was progressively introduced as the medium of instruction, while the activities of the Christian missionaries were placed under restriction until all in the south were expelled in 1964. For economists, it was a war between the impoverished herdsmen and civilians of the south and the north who were being made wealthy from oil profit.

Education in South Sudan has survived through several major periods of neglect and conflict: a) Anglo-Egyptian rule 1898 – 1955; b) Post-independence Sudan 1956 – 1972; c) Inter-wars period 1972 – 1982 d) The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement 1983 – 2005; e) CPA Interim Period and Post-Independence South Sudan 2005 – 2015. However, in this paper, we will briefly examine the reconstruction efforts made in the post-conflict periods and also examine the impact of the current conflict on the education system.

The Education Rehabilitation Project received USD 45.4 million which was used during the six-year interim period to build 52 primary schools and 33 training rooms and dorms in multipurpose education centers.

Twenty-one years of civil war in Sudan came to an end on 9th January, 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Nairobi, Kenya between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Among the six protocols of the agreement, Protocols on Wealth Sharing provided the strategies for sharing the existing national resources, mobilization of external resources and the implementation of the reconstruction programs.

Two trust funds were established in 2005 as part of the CPA Protocol on Wealth Sharing: the Multi-Donor Trust Fund-National and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Southern Sudan. The total funds received for MDFT-SS was USD 728 million, which then went to 21 projects in five Strategic Priority areas. The Education Rehabilitation Project received USD 45.4 million which was used during the six-year interim period to build 52 primary schools and 33 training rooms and dorms in multipurpose education centers. No money, however, was used to improve the levels of Early Childhood Development Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training and secondary school education in South Sudan.

Impact of the current conflict on education in South Sudan

On 15th December 2013, violence broke out in the South Sudan capital city of Juba as a result of political misunderstanding within the leadership of the ruling party, SPLM. The violence quickly spread to Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity States. With the vicious circle of violence that pitched the SPLA-IO led by former Vice President Dr. RiekMacharTeny and the national army SPLA under the leadership of H.E Gen. SalvaKiirMayardit, three main towns of Bor, Malakal and Bentiu became battlegrounds as opposing forces continued to claim control.

The conflict continues to affect the lives of millions of people. According to South Sudan UN-OCHA 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan, tens of thousands have been killed or injured while many others have lost their homes and livelihoods. Since the beginning of the current crisis, some 1.9 million people have been displaced from their homes; 1.4 million of which are still inside the country while the rest are now refugees in neighboring countries. The conflict also affects the 244,600 refugees currently inside South Sudan as over 100,000 have sought refuge from attacks in Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites inside UN bases.

In the three affected states of Greater Upper Nile, for example, Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), which were due to be conducted in the second week of December, 2013 have not taken place to this date in Upper Nile and Unity States. Jonglei State managed to conduct PLE where 60% of the registered candidates were able to sit these. In February this year, 89 boys who were due to sit PLE were abducted in Upper Nile WauShilluk – a small town north of Malakal – by militia forces.

Since the current crisis began in December 2013, 1,188 schools in the three most affected states in Greater Upper Nile have been closed; about 10,000 children have been recruited into armed forces and groups since January 2014; more than 90 schools in the country are occupied by fighting forces while over 800,000 children have been internally displaced.  Eleven containers full of primary school textbooks which were part of 9.4 million primary schools textbooks and readers printed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) with the support of the Department for International Development (DFID) were set on fire in Malakal town in November 2014 while other learning and teaching materials fell into the hands of warring parties and were misused. Thousands have fled to the neighbouring countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Those who could not cross the borders ended up as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps mainly in Lakes, Central Equatoria, Western Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria States. Others who could not move at all in the embattled towns of Malakal, Bentiu and Bor ended up in Protection of Civilians sites under the protection of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Conflict has a devastating impact on education, both in terms of the suffering and psychological impact on pupils, teachers, and communities, and in the degradation of the education system and its infrastructure.

While much of the attention tends to be directed to the embattled states of Greater Upper Nile, little is afforded to IDPs’ host states within the current conflict. The influx of people into relatively peaceful states has created pressure on the already limited services. In Equatoria States, for instance, schools in Juba, Yei, Kajokeji, Nimule, Yambio among others are overwhelmed with the influx of learners fleeing conflict-affected areas. Although article 1 of the Convention against Discrimination in Education (CADE) expresses the fundamental principles of non-discrimination and equality of educational opportunities enshrined in UNESCO’s Constitution, MangateenIDPs camp in Juba remains a typical example of discrimination among humanitarian actors. The camp accommodates over 3,500 children of school-age and despite this it has never attracted the attention of humanitarian actors. UNICEF and other humanitarian actors have continued to behave like tourists who come and take pictures of children playing around in and around the overcrowded camp near the military headquarter; an act of neglect and discrimination in the sphere of humanitarian intervention in South Sudan. Other host states like Western and Eastern Equatoria that host a large number of IDPs are neglected and preferences are made towards the areas where tensions continue to grow.

The Role of Educational Actors in response to the Crisis in South Sudan

Conflict has a devastating impact on education, both in terms of the suffering and psychological impact on pupils, teachers, and communities, and in the degradation of the education system and its infrastructure. Yet research also demonstrates that schools and education systems are surprisingly resilient, and that the disruption caused by conflict offers opportunities as well as challenges for social reconstruction.

Education in crisis affected areas has attracted little attention from donors and humanitarian actors alike in the event of humanitarian emergency responses until, that is, the ground-breaking report published by Susan Nicolei and Carl Triplehorn was released in 2003. Earlier, education was placed as part of a long-term intervention that did not correspond well with immediate humanitarian needs. This understanding tends to ignore the fact that education is not about preparing young people for future challenges. According to Susan Nicolei education provides safe spaces during crises, is life-saving and provides vital psychosocial support, which is crucial to the longer-term development of children, youth and communities. It is also significant to the success of interventions in other sectors, such as water and health. Education is vital for the peace and stability of countries (INEE, 2010) and is often identified as a high priority sector by affected communities themselves (Save the Children and NRC, 2014).

Education offers practical skills. A teacher in Malakal explained that having schools gives them the opportunity to teach children how to respond to threats of illness, fire or gunfire. A number of parents and children also noted that educated families often made better decisions about where to seek shelter when fighting breaks out. Crucially, education allows communities to prepare and plan for the future, to hope and to envisage rebuilding their lives. This is vital if development gains are to be sustained.

In a research paper carried out by Save the Children International with a consortium of international organizations in South Sudan, it was established that: “Education offers practical skills. A teacher in Malakal explained that having schools gives them the opportunity to teach children how to respond to threats of illness, fire or gunfire. A number of parents and children also noted that educated families often made better decisions about where to seek shelter when fighting breaks out. Crucially, education allows communities to prepare and plan for the future, to hope and to envisage rebuilding their lives. This is vital if development gains are to be sustained.”

Schools in crisis affected areas act as a zone of peace in South Sudan, a shelter for children who are separated from their parents, a rallying point for the provision of curative and preventive health services, a place for psychosocial support for traumatised children, and as a secure place to live as warring parties can act humanely towards school facilities.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) with the support of 25 active partners formed a Crisis Response Plan to address the situation. Prior to the eruption of the conflict, MOEST was in its first year of implementation of the School Capitation Grants, Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) challenge funds. The government in the 2014/15 fiscal year allocated the equivalent of USD 20.3 million and again a similar amount for 2015/16. The Department for International Development committed GBP 6.5 million for a period of 5.5 years beginning from April, 2013 to September 2018. Last year, 2,718 primary and 204 secondary schools received capitation grants for the first time; while 25,438 received cash transfers each being the equivalent of GBP 28.

Reaching out to children in opposition-controlled areas and refugee camps in neighbouring countries

On 6th – 8th February 2014, MOEST convened an emergency meeting attended by the state ministers of education and development partners to determine the direction in which education actors should follow during this time of crisis. The meeting resolved that “education cannot wait for the war to end”; that the current conflict has nothing to do with the common vision of the people of South Sudan and hence access to education should not be restricted with regard to any kind geopolitical control. Today, education partners are operating from the capital city of Juba and reaching out to children in need in the entire Greater Upper Nile region in all the areas under the control of the government or opposition. For example, the Girls Education South Sudan programme funded by DFID is supporting schools and girls in both government and opposition-held areas of Unity and Jonglei States, and in a few areas of Upper Nile, regardless of which schools are still operating. UNICEF and a large number of NGOs in the EiE Cluster have provided schooling in PoC camps and temporary shelters under the ‘Back to Learning’ initiative funded mainly bilaterally with some limited support from the Common Humanitarian Fund.

Establishment of parallel systems and neglect of relatively calm areas

With the emergence of another humanitarian intervention in South Sudan, however, humanitarian actors sometimes appear to be returning to old ways as seen during the 16 years of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). OLS was a humanitarian intervention led by the United Nations. It was the first humanitarian programme that sought to assist IDPs and war-affected civilians during the on-going conflict with a sovereign country, as opposed to refugees beyond its border. It created an equivocal and temporary ceding of sovereignty to the UN of parts of South Sudan that were outside government control. The ceding of sovereignty in areas outside government control created a tendency for humanitarian actors to undermine the responsibility, leadership and ownership of local and national authorities. Even with the establishment of the Government of South Sudan following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 and the subsequent declaration of independence in July, 2011, some international community actors were often viewed by the South Sudan government as undermining the sovereignty of the Republic of South Sudan. There is a risk that this trend can develop into a culture of dependency on external actors and create a negative impression amongst the population towards the government. At the same time they also do not plan for the sustainability of the programme beyond the donor-funding period. While much current international interventions seem to focus on the three affected states of Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei, often little attention is given to the relatively calm and peaceful states, which also have similar dire needs with regards education, water and sanitation, health among others. The international response appears to demonstrate that where there is smoke, killing and destruction, only to these areas do such actors go, thus ignoring areas of stability and relative peace. For example, Greater Pibor Administrative Area has become a new attraction point and hub for humanitarian agencies following the conclusion of a 3-year conflict in the area when the Government of the Republic of South Sudan signed a peace deal with the Murle tribesmen under the command of David YauYau SSD/A-Cobra Faction of Jonglei State on 9th May, 2014 in Addis Ababa. Such approaches can serve to encourage and justify the initiation of armed conflicts in the region, which suggest that the only way the needs of a community can be heard by both government and international community is by taking arms against the system.

Conclusion

Despite the challenges that South Sudan has gone through in the last 60 years, education has become a means through which people find hope in their lives. The approach of the international community in crisis affected situations needs to focus on long-term issues such as the professional development of teachers and the construction of learning space, and focus on equitable accessibility of humanitarian benefits to all citizens.

Michael Lopuke Lotyam is the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in the Republic of South Sudan. He is the youngest person ever to serve as undersecretary in the country. He also held the post of State Minister of Education in Eastern Equatoria State from 2010 – 2014.

As a young man who grew up and received an education in the war-torn Sudan, Lopuke believes that education cannot wait for the war to end. Currently, as a senior technocrat in the education sector, Lopuke is confronted with the demands of delivering education to children in the war-torn region of the country. Together with other senior government officials, he has managed to mobilize resources for the education of all children in South Sudan.