South Sudan’s government on Monday reopened all schools both after 14 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The reopening of schools followed an assessment done by the Education Ministry in partnership with education and health partners to ascertain their readiness.
South Sudan’s vice president for Service cluster and Chairperson for National Task force on COVID-19 Hussein Abdelbagi Akol said the reopening of schools came after the country witnessed a decline in the number of new COVID-19 infections.
“COVID-19 is still with us but we have decided to reopened schools and will strictly follow the covid-19 preventative measures in schools.” Said vice president Akol in an occasion that marked the reopening of the schools on Monday.
He order all the school administrators and head teachers to operate at half capacity to protect students not to contracted COVID-19.
He called upon all learners to report back to schools.
Meanwhile the Minister of General Education and Instruction Awut Deng Achuil called upon parents and guardians to register their children, including children with disabilities and those who are pregnant in schools of their choice,
“Parents are requested to ensure that their children have returned to school timely so that they do not build-up any additional gaps in their knowledge”
“The Ministry of General Education and Instruction and partners are doing everything in their power to ensure that schools can reopen safety. I strongly encourage parents to make sure that their children are enrolled and ready for the new Academic year. Registration is organized simultaneously with lessons.” Said Awut
She revealed that to support return of teachers to schools the EU has committed to support payment of teachers’ incentives for the first three months after the reopening.
After fourteen months of closure, students will step back to classes in South Sudan as directed by Government.
The Schools were shut down in April 2020 due to the coronavirus but candidates from Primary and secondary schools were allowed to reopen for exams while the rest of the classes remained shut.
In the last 24 hours, South Sudan registered only 4 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country’s tally to 10,602 since April 5 last year, when the first case was registered. The number of death case remained at 115
