The Quandaries of Registration time

In South Sudan, schools re-register all their students at the start of the school year.  I believe that this is because of the instability of the country.  In past years, we have lost large numbers of children as their families leave for the refugee camps either because of the war or because of hunger.  Some return, but many do not.  However last year, for the first time since we founded the school, there has been relative stability and the majority of children remained with us throughout the year.  This raised my hopes that we would be able to continue to educate the same children two years running.  My hopes have not been disappointed.

The new school year begins on 5 February, so we started registrations last week, beginning with last year’s pupils.  On day one of registrations, 70 children came to register, more than half of last year’s intake.  Over the rest of the week, the numbers registering went down, but we still registered almost all those who attended in 2017.

Depending on their results in the end of year exams and also on their in-class performance, children either move to the next level, stay in their former class or in some particular cases move backwards.  This is in line with the South Sudanese education system and African schools more generally.  It seems harsh, but there is nothing we can do about it.  In my own country, children move up according to age group, not by ability and are given extra help if they struggle.  Here there are no resources for individual catch-up.  Parents are completely illiterate and unable to help their children and schools have limited numbers of teachers.  To make up for this, unlike other schools, we are alert to our children’s performance during the school year and if we find children misplaced academically, they are moved to a more suitable class. 

A major issue that we have faced during the registration process this year is that a lot of the children came without their carers.  We have a registration form which we use to check that our pupils meet the school criteria as well as to collect personal information.  The school gives places firstly to those from families with HIV/AIDS or disability which hampers the families’ ability to pay for their children’s schooling, and secondly to orphans.  Some children informed us that they live with their parents and that there is no sickness or disability in the family, in spite of conflicting information from last year’s registration forms! 

It became necessary to contact the parents.  In most cases, the children had never been told by their carers that they were not their real parents, the parents having died of HIV or other causes when they were still very small.  This is because both HIV and orphanhood are stigmatized in South Sudan, in spite of the vast numbers involved. 

Next week we are inviting new applicants to come to register.  During the past week, many new families came and we asked them to come back next week.  However, there are very few places left as so many of our children of 2017 are still with us.  It is very clear that we are going to be overwhelmed.  It will be necessary to take the details of all the applicants and then categorize them by need for a place.  I hate it, but what else can we do?  In time, maybe there will be enough money to have two classes in each year, but unless we expand the number of children in each class to well beyond the current 35 per class, we will not be able to accept all the children who are in need of a place now.  If we have large classes, the standard of teaching and individual help will go down.  In the refugee camps, schools operate with over 200 children per class and the children learn nothing due to the constant noise.  In other Nimule schools classes often go up to 100, but at the end of the day few children learn even to read or write.  This must not happen to Cece Primary School.  If you look at the previous post for the end of the school year, you will see that the children did very well.  This must continue.

In the meantime, construction work on the new block of classrooms is much delayed due to lack of funding.  Some funding has now arrived, and this coming week work begins again, but the classrooms will not be on time for the new term.  The money is not enough to complete the work.  Fortunately there is a temporary classroom made with tarpaulins, which classes will take turns to use, as it is very hot and uncomfortable.  It would be very unfair to one class if they had to spend the whole school day in it every day, rather than by rotation.

If you can help us by increasing your support for the school, or organizing fundraising activities in support of us, which would have the additional benefit of spreading the word about the school more widely, it will benefit a very deprived community so that the next generation has hope for the future.  Illiteracy in South Sudan is currently at 85%.  Although there are no statistics that I am aware of specifically for the poor, judging by my own observation, illiteracy must be close to 100% because apart from our own school, it is unheard of to have a school with no school fees or other burdensome requirements.

I will be returning to the UK in February while I get a new passport and will be delighted to visit anyone who would like to hear more about Cece Primary School.

As mentioned in my previous blog post, Patrick Gore will be taking over as headteacher from me.  He is a very committed teacher who shares the ideals of the school and is already coming up with new ideas to enhance the children’s educational experience, including a potential trip to the nearby national park to bring life to their science and social studies lessons.  I will be leaving the school in good hands while I am away.  Once back, I will teach English and particularly literacy under him as well as continuing to keep contact with donors with news of the school.

To send money to the school:

For UK tax payers, please send through the Sean Devereux Children’s Fund so that we can benefit from 25% tax relief from the UK government. Please contact me by email for the gift aid form, if you are able to donate in this way.  My email address is rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk.

It is not currently possible to donate from other parts of the world, unless donors decide to donate directly to our account in Uganda.  Clubbing together will save on individual transfer costs.  If you would like to do this, please email me on the same email address as above and I will supply the bank details.