'We will beat the men in everything' – hope at a South Sudan school
“In Sudan, where 84% of women are illiterate, only six percent of girls complete their schooling. Even in primary schools, boys outnumber girls three to one.”
By 8am the students at Bentiu Secondary School were assembled in a semi-circle in the school yard, smart in their white shirts with dark red trousers or skirts, singing the new South Sudan National Anthem.
Most seemed to know the words, although the tune was a little wavery at times. They’ll have to get it right on Saturday, when they’ll be expected to belt it out for a rousing Independence Day celebration.
The school itself was a collection of dilapidated structures, just outside of town. The Deputy Headmaster, John Kalamant, outlined their problems.
“Lack of classrooms, lack of playing field, lack of textbooks,” he said. “And lack of food. Sometimes the students get hungry so they go off looking for food and don’t come back.”
I asked how many students he had and he pulled out three A4 lined sheets torn from an exercise book. We went through year by year and found the total: 678. Of which just 92 were girls.
In Sudan, where 84 per cent of women are illiterate, only six percent of girls complete their schooling. Even in primary schools, boys outnumber girls three to one.
Towards the end of assembly I heard the dread phrase, “And now the journalist from Channel 4 News will say a few words.” So I stood in the centre of the yard and wished them well for Independence and their futures. I asked the Deputy Head to pick a boy and a girl to tell us their views on camera.
The boy – who turned out to be 26, an example of how war has interrupted education here – gave us a stock answer about building the country and pride in the new nation. The girl started to cry. “We have so many problems,” she said. “There is fighting, children are hungry and orphans are wandering everywhere.”
She was referring to the conflict between rival militias which still plagues parts of southern Sudan, as some warlords refuse to accept the new political dispensation and cattle raiding sets tribes against each other.
I asked her what role women would play in the new South Sudan and she brightened up. “We will get education,” she said. “We will even become politicians. And we will beat the men in everything.”
(photo by Ray Queally)
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