Gov’t urges parents to send pregnant, lactating girls back to schools

JUBA – South Sudan Minister of General Education, Awut Deng Acuil is calling upon parents and caregivers to send their pregnant and lactating daughters to school as learning institutions officially reopened across the country on Monday after 15-month long closure due to COVID-19 restrictions.

At least 125 teenage girls got pregnant in Eastern Equatoria state alone during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“We now call upon parents and guardians to register their children including children with disabilities, pregnant and lactating daughters in schools of their choice,” Deng said during a back to learning campaign launched in Juba today.

“Parents are requested to ensure that their children have returned to school timely so that they don’t build-up an additional gap in their knowledge,” Acuil added.

She said European Union is committed to supporting payment of teachers’ incentives for three years.

“The EU has committed to support payment of teachers’ incentives for the first three months after school reopened,” she said.

The European Union Teachers’ Incentives project was initiated after the Ministry of Education noted that teachers were leaving the profession due to low pay of about 2,000 pounds.

As per the project, each teacher is entitled to receive 40 US dollars per month as motivation.