Their Future is in jeopardy

BY RIKKE HOVN POULSEN (Oxfam IBIS)



The situation had just started to improve for girls in South Sudan: during the years prior to COVID-19, more girls were attending school, bringing a brighter future within their reach.



But in spring 2020 the pandemic hit, and the schools were closed for more than a year. As a consequence, the majority of learners in South Sudan have missed an entire year of education – only those facing their final exams were eventually allowed to resume classes towards the end of 2020.



“There is a risk that positive developments for South Sudan’s girls will be reversed,” says Charlotte Beyer, Senior Education Advisor in Oxfam IBIS.



Beyer has contributed to a new briefing paper, ‘COVID-19 and female learners in South Sudan’, in cooperation with colleagues in the country. It sheds light on the challenges South Sudanese girls are currently facing – and, according to Beyer, it makes worrisome reading.



“This last year has been hard on everyone. There is continuing violence in many parts of South Sudan, and because of the national lockdown, many families are now suffering even harder economically. These families are under immense pressure to survive. And in this kind of situation,” she explains, “it is unfortunately often the girls and women who suffer the most.”



GIRLS BECOME MOTHERS

Although solid data is not available, all indications suggest that the pandemic led to significant increases in child marriages, forced marriages, teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence.



This is, for instance, seen across 18 schools in Juba, Torit and Kapoeta that are a part of the EU-funded ‘Education for Life’ project, through which Oxfam, AVSI and CDI support children and youth to return to school. In these schools, the number of pregnant learners has almost doubled in the last year – and the actual numbers could very well turn out to be much higher.



“Most of these local communities have never confronted or deviated from the established social norms that girls should be married, and become mothers, at a very young age,” Charlotte Beyer explains. “And once they have become mothers, most of them are not allowed to return to school. Girls have to fight incredibly hard to be able to attend school, and thankfully the trend in recent years had been in their favour. However, now that schools have been closed for the majority of these girls, their families find it hard to justify not marrying them off.”



Child marriages are closely linked to increasing poverty. For a family living on the brink of famine, receiving a dowry for a daughter is an attractive opportunity – it means one less mouth to feed, and a source of income to feed their other children.

“Because of old fashioned patriarchal norms,” says Beyer, “boys are often prioritized more than girls for education when money is tight. In the extreme situation of the pandemic, this has become even more evident.”

Beyond the increased risks of early marriage and pregnancy, South Sudanese girls have had extra domestic chores while schools have been closed – in their homes and in the field, from fetching water to selling crops at local markets.



“Many families are now under a lot of pressure, and it will be difficult for them to manage without this extra help from the girls in the future,” says Beyer. “Of course, this relates to both genders. Nonetheless, according to the new briefing paper, the extra chores have had an especially big impact on girls’ education.”

In an attempt to keep children learning, the government has used radio for distance education. However, many children and youth do not have access to radios – and when they do, boys are more likely than girls to be allowed to take time off from their domestic chores to participate.



“As a result,” explains Beyer, “these adolescent girls are lagging behind. And that creates an extra obstacle for them in terms of returning to school.”



A GREAT TASK AHEAD

In the short term, it will require great efforts to ensure that South Sudan does not lose an entire generation of very promising girls – who could otherwise offer their war-torn country a brighter future.



Many people have a role to play: teachers will need additional training to support the girls; local authorities and decision makers will have to ensure that schools, husbands and parents allow girls to return to school, including those who have become mothers; and the government must allocate sufficient resources to the weak educational system.



“It is possible to ensure that girls return to school,” Charlotte Beyer says. “We have experienced this in our Education for Life project, where our local colleagues and teachers made great efforts to get the girls back when the final-year learners were allowed to return. The results were amazing, and the girls have been able to sit their final exams. However, such efforts are unfortunately very rare.”



During COVID-19, governments and donors prioritized healthcare systems in the world’s poorest countries. While this makes sense, Beyer explains, it should not be at the expense of other long-term investments. Indeed, good education is indirectly an investment in health.

“Educating girls is extremely important in so many ways,” emphasizes Beyer. “Not only do well-educated women get better jobs and earn more, they also become active citizens shaping the futures of their families and societies. And they become more capable of taking care of their families’ health – which is paramount, if we are to be better equipped the next time a global health crisis hit.”

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of The Education for Life program and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union

About the programme:

Education for Life is one of EU’s four flagships under the “Building Resilience in Crisis through Education” program.

The program operates in the nexus targeting displacement in South Sudan, refugee influx in Uganda and host communities in both locations. The aim is to build resilience of learners, teachers and education systems by providing education to 31,150 youth in more than 22 schools in South Sudan and Northern Uganda.

Gender justice and changing gender norms is a strong component of the program and the project focuses on girls’ and young mothers’ enrollment, retainment and completion of AEP as well as female teachers. It is implemented in Juba, Torrit and Kapoeta in South Sudan and Palabek Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda, and it is successfully responding to the COVID 19 situation and subsequent education crisis including linking up to WASH.

Approximately 650 teachers will undergo continuous professional development, as well as 1000 members of Parent Teacher Associations, School Management Committees and Refugee Welfare Councils will be trained and supported to engage in social accountability activities.

Advocacy is conducted under the umbrella of inequality of basic social services, such as financing and gender justice by ensuring the needs and implications of COVID 19 on girls is addressed. Further the project advocates for adequate and relevant teacher professional development and system strengthening.

Oxfam IBIS heads the consortium consisting of global, regional and national partners including Oxfam in South Sudan, Uganda and Oxfam Novib. Other partners are AVSI, FAWEU, UNATU, Luigi Guissani Institute for Higher Education and the Community Development Initiative, as well as the international teacher trade union Education International and Columbia University Teachers’ College as research partner.

Education for Life runs from 2018 – 2022 and has a total budget of approximately 5.5 million Euro, of which the EU contributes the majority.

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of The Education for Life program and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union