July 17th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – The ongoing civil strife and political instability in South Sudan, world’s youngest nation has deprived over 2.4 millions children of their basic rights to quality education, a new UN report released on Monday said.
The report released on Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination Humanitarian of Affairs estimated 2.4 millions children that are supposed to enjoy quality education are being kept out of school and that’s the highest proportion ever been witnessed in recent years.
Economic collapse imposed on the world’s youngest nation by the ongoing civil war has been identified as one of the underlying causes that deprives South Sudan children of of their education.
The report further pointed out that the number, which is currently witnessing a sharp rise in the children dropping out of school, will rise should the ongoing civil strife continue for the next two years in South Sudan.
“We cannot leave children  behind. They are the future of South Sudan. We must work together – everyone including the government, civil society and development partners – to urgently support and invest in teachers and getting children into schools,” Sardar  Umar Alam, UNESCO’s Representative to South Sudan, said in a statement.
The report released ob Monday outlined 4 major barriers and challenges blocking children from continuing with their education, displacement, recruitment by armed forces and groups, poverty, and child labor, which resulted from the civil war, were some of the major risk factors.
The report emphasized on the needs to step up efforts to ensuring that school facilities are rehabilitated, teachers are empowered, enough textbooks, clean water are provided, conducive learning  environment is made available at all levels.
