Over 40 participants from 10 schools in Wau in South Sudan attended Parent-Teacher Association training organized by Creative Associates International, an organization funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Abdo Al Hakin Juma coordinator for Creative Associates International explained that the training aimed to close the gap between schools and the community.

Abdo noted that the community is not actively participating in the management of the schools. The community thought that school is only the responsibility of the teachers and government officials.

“Education is not the responsibility of the school alone, nor is it for the Ministry of Education alone, but it is the responsibility of everybody in the community,” he expressed.

The officer said that his office is working hard to close that gap between the schools and the communities and encourage them to actively participate into the management of the school.

“We want the community to actively participate because the children belong to the community,” he said.

He asserted that the participation of the community in the school management will encourage the development of quality education in the state.

Lucia Atilio Juma, head of the parents committee in Wau, said that in fact there used to problems between the parents and the school administrators. She attributed the problems to lack of understanding between the teachers and the parents as to the role they should play at the school.

“We now understand our roles as parents of the school and what we are to do,” she said. She added that if all the efforts are coordinated well, the result will be reflected in the performance of the children.

John Kaleto, another parent representative, encouraged the parents to exert extra effort in the school, saying that education is the tool that South Sudan needs at the moment.

He noted, however, that the change of language from Arabic to English has created a shortage of teachers because most of the teachers were Arabic-oriented.

Photo: ECS church-run secondary school in Juba, South Sudan