S. Sudan launches massive teacher training for ailing primary schools

The South Sudanese government on Wednesday launched a massive one-year teacher training program to boost the country's ailing early education sector plagued by a lack of teachers and high drop-out rates.

The new program is expected to add 17,600 primary school instructors to the country's current total of 28,000.

South Sudan's education indicators remain among the worst in the world. The pupil-teacher ratio stands at 50 pupils to 1 teacher, according to data from the education ministry.

The ministry said they are looking at improving the quality of education provided throughout the country before the launch of a new education curriculum in 2018.

Acting Undersecretary in the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Abdulai Ali, said to fix the current crisis in the education sector, collective efforts especially in the areas of teacher training and remuneration must be geared up to make the teaching profession more attractive.

"Some 1.8 million children in South Sudan are already out of school. This is a huge number. So we must work very hard to bring back this big number," Ali said.

A report by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) released in September said the East African country is the second country in the world after Liberia with the highest proportion of out-of-school children.

The report added that 59 percent of the children are missing out on their right to a primary education and 1 in 3 schools has been closed due to conflicts. Endit