A new nation means lots of changes for secondary education.
New Curriculum:South Sudan has printed a new syllabus for secondary education aligning itself more closely with the Kenyan and Ugandan curriculum.
Extra Year of School:Secondary school will be four years (S1-S4) rather than the three year secondary program that was previously in place.
New Secondary Completion Exams: As far as I have heard, there is still no South Sudanese exam in place for students who have completed S4 for university entrance, but that will hopefully come soon.
This is year of a lot of transitions for South Sudan. Changes will come slowly. Many schools are still teaching from the old Sudanese curriculum that comes from Khartoum and are not offering S4. Many students are hoping to sit for the old Sudanese national exam upon completion of S3 this year and apply to universities rather than continuing at one of few schools already offering S4.
This year in particular has been difficult for schools, teachers, and students with so many changes happening all at once. It is a complicated situation.
Some teachers who were employed before the school year started decided to take other jobs and replacements have not been found. In South Sudan as a whole there is a shortage of qualified science and math teachers, so those classes in particular are not being taught. Even teachers who are around are not always in class to teach because they are growing their own gardens and providing for themselves and their families. In a community that suffers a lot of death, there are also a lot of funerals which means teachers miss their classes. Sometimes it seems to me that everyone in Mundri is related, and the men who are teachers are often important in their families and expected to attend the burial as well as the church prayers which usually follow a few days later.
Students are paying their school fees, but are often sitting in classrooms with no teachers, particularly the math and science classes. School fees can range from $30 - $75 a year depending on the school, which is a lot of cash for young men and women to come up with every year. Some students are even willing to study on their own when there is no teacher, but schools typically only have one copy of the text book for the teacher. The students can't afford the expensive text books ($10 - $15 each if you find them in stock which is rare). Even if they could get textbooks, it is not ideal since the text books from Khartoum can be confusing and often contain mistakes. When I taught Physics at Mundri Secondary School I ended up buying a textbook from Uganda to supplement the book from Khartoum.
I feel for all parties involved.
The headmaster has struggled to put a roof on 1/3 of a building destroyed during the war so the S3 Science students who were previously being taught under a mango tree can still have class when it rains. I am so thankful for that roof as I teach. The challenges that face the school are many.
It really makes me sad to walk in to my class at 2:10 in the afternoon at Mundri Secondary School and hear that the students only had one other teacher come in and teach for 40 minutes that day.
This afternoon I am heading back to Mundri Secondary School to teach my practical science lab course to the eight young men in the S3 science track. These men want to be doctors, engineers, agriculturalists and environmentalists. One young man is even studying science because he enjoys it, but hopes to be a pastor. Most students choose the easier arts track. Today we will be looking at a small solar powered car and learning about solar panels and motors. I'm excited! Solar panels are everywhere in South Sudan with the equatorial sun being used to pump water, run computers, power lights, etc.
Pray:
- Pray for the schools in South Sudan.
- Pray God would give me eyes to see how He is at work in a difficult situation.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide me in encouraging the headmasters, teachers, and students in Mundri.
Thankful:
- I am so thankful for the headmaster of Mundri Secondary School who has welcomed our team in to his school to teach. I am always amazed at his persistence and resourcefulness as he finds a way to continue rebuilding a school destroyed by war.
- I am thankful for the teachers who teach up to 100 students in a class under a hot tin roof in the heat of Sudan.
- I am thankful for the students who come to class all day and try to do some work in the afternoons to get enough money for school fees.
*photo credit to Kim Berger, little black dots are all weevils*
This morning Liana, Gaby, Larissa, and I helped our friend James mud the walls of his house. It was a lot of fun! We haven't quite mastered the technique of the wrist flick and knuckle punch, but James came along after us to make it beautiful. There will be one more coat applied once this layer dries.
As soon as we finished the Hai Salaama community water project we knew the tank was undersized. Today Michael and Caleb replaced the small 500 liter tank with a much larger 5,000 liter tank.
Michael welds high up in the air.
A group of children gathered to watch Michael, Caleb, and the water office staff work. I came in the middle of the day to drop of some forgotten supplies and take some pictures of the tank raising, so I took a bunch of pictures of these cute children while I waited for main event.
