Improving Maths, Science Subjects Given More Priority

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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“We are taking the teaching of mathematics and science very seriously. The Ministry has received two teachers training institutes in Juba and Aweil for the training of teachers in maths and science with funding from Japanese International Corporation Agency,” Deng said.

“The South Sudan teacher’s education project is going to start with a funding of 30 million US Dollars from our partner United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This will be a big boost to the efforts of the Ministry in developing the capacities of teachers,” he continued.

The Undersecretary said that no society can develop without science and technology. He urged all Directors and teachers to take the teaching of science and mathematics very seriously.

The Resident Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Atsushi Hanatani said that the Agency is dedicated to helping South Sudan develop.

“Our focus is on sustainable development of South Sudan where the process is always owned by South Sudanese and JICA will be here to support you even in times of difficulty and happiness,” Hanatani said.

The Director for Teacher Education and Training, Edward Kokole Juma said that the program is cost shared between the government contributing 1.3 million pounds for the three years and JICA will contribute 80% of the budget. The contribution of the government is geared towards training teachers within South Sudan and JICA is in charge for trainings outside the country and provision of technical staff.  

The Director explained that other subjects are not neglected but the poor performance on maths and science triggered the set up of the project.

“We discovered that in South Sudan children are performing very poorly in maths and science and most pupils run away when teachers visit their classes. They fear science and maths, their performance is always very poor in exams and that’s why we introduced the training to make the teaching very attractive and interesting to the children,” said Kokole.

According to Mr. Kokole most of the teachers are unqualified and the Ministry had difficulties in training the teachers in order to impact quality education to the children.

Speaking to one of the trainee a former teacher in St. Peter and Paul Secondary school in Khartoum, Jasinta Kassmiro, she said the training should be intensive and many Science and Maths teachers should be recruited. Kassmiro admitted that most of the teachers are “unqualified” and they deserve such trainings.

Since 2005 the Ministry was trying to establish a solid foundation of the two subjects. It has trained 1,186 teachers and 700 education leaders and managers.
 
The Strengthening of Mathematics and Science Education in South Sudan (SMASESS) project is an in-service teacher training. It stared in November 2009 and implemented in various parts of South Sudan.

The workshop includes delegates from all the 10 States to analyse the quality of education focusing on science and mathematics.

South Sudan is already a member of the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in African based in Kenya.