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WESTERN EQUATORIA, South Sudan, 20 January 2012 - Education is a key priority for the government of the world's newest nation, South Sudan. Sixty-four per cent of children aged 6 to 11 are out of school, and the primary school completion rate is only 10 per cent, among the lowest in the world. Gender equality is also a huge challenge, with only 37 per cent of girls aged 6 to 13 attending school. Still, thanks to the efforts of dedicated teachers, accelerated learning programmes and children's clubs, there have been encouraging developments in girls' education over the past year.

JUBA, 17 January 2011 (IRIN) - The optimism sweeping through Southern Sudan over the just-concluded referendum to determine the country's political destiny has infused hope in 15-year-old street child Ajal Kaba, who hopes life will take a turn for the better should the country vote to secede.

Ministry of Peace in Sudan; empowering women

Although over one million primary-school age children are out of school and secondary education enrolment is one of the lowest in the world, South Sudan has also made progress in education since the peace settlement in 2005.  The governments is initiating key reforms, notably standardizing the primary school curriculum and syllabus and rationalizing the public sector payroll.

Much of the literature surrounding education in emergencies focuses on the impact of armed conflict on children. Surprisingly little focuses explicitly on teachers, and yet it is commonly acknowledged that the biggest influences on the education a child receives are the knowledge, skills and attitudes of their teacher. Through field research from Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the study examines the role and status of teachers in emergencies. It identifies the issues refugee teachers face and makes recommendations on how policy can better address their particular needs and protect their rights, and thus improve access to and quality of education to populations affected by an emergency. The research findings also include data on South Sudan and the status of teachers returning there from exile.

Another deployment of the Ushahidi platform, used for monitoring votes in the Sudanese election.

ntists from Heidelberg University investigate effectiveness of educational projects in crisis areasPeace education work in crisis and conflict areas actually does help to make hostile groups more peaceable in their attitudes towards one another. Compared with persons who have not taken part in such programmes, participants in so-called peace-building education projects in countries with armed conflicts differ often distinctly in the extent to which they are prepared to envisage peaceful conflict settlement. A research project at Heidelberg University's Institute for Education Studies has demonstrated that this is the case. Headed by Prof. Dr. Volker Lenhart, the scientists questioned almost 1,600 people in seven countries featuring earlier or ongoing armed conflicts, such as Afghanistan, Sudan or Israel/Palestine.

Khartoum - UNICEF warmly welcomes the decision by the State Government of West Darfur to recruit an additional 1,000 teachers an increase of more than 20 per cent over current levels to meet the educational needs of children in the state.

Eight teachers tell us about the progress of education in their country, what they see as the biggest challenges for African teachers and students - and their hopes for the future