Education for Life

South Sudan is in the midst of a huge refugee crisis. Over four million people are currently displaced, equalling a third of the population. The country’s independent history is short, but most of it has been spent at war. Refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) struggle to access resources and basic services such as healthcare and education. Three quarters of South Sudanese children are out of school, with long lasting, detrimental consequences for the population. Education can provide stability during a crisis, especially for children and youth. Not only that but it builds resilience within communities and empowers the population through skills development, increasing their chances of future employment and instilling hope for a better future.

Uganda is a role model with its open-door policy, welcoming more than one million South Sudanese and hosting many refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi as well. Host communities are also negatively affected by conflict and displacement as they are forced to coexist and share resources with refugee communities. As a developing country, Uganda is struggling to meet the needs of the refugees on top of its own population, exacerbating poverty levels and tensions between communities. In particular, the education system in Uganda is stretched beyond capacity, struggling to accommodate the high number of children and youth at school age and provide quality education to meet the specific needs of the refugees.

The project

Through the EU funded project Resilient Learners, Teachers and Education Systems in South Sudan and Uganda, 35.000 children and adolescents in South Sudan and Uganda will get a chance for a better future. Refugee children are educated alongside children from the host communities, learning how to read and write and receiving psycho-social support. Education and support enable them to become active citizens, making progress in their own lives, creating peace, combatting poverty and rebuilding their communities.

It takes qualified teachers and robust educational structures to offer quality education, especially in conflict affected areas. Teacher support and training is core to this project. Therefore, we provide proper frameworks and training in education in emergencies for both Ugandan and South Sudanese teachers. Training includes accelerated learning programmes and methods of providing children with psycho-social support. 1000 teachers will be trained within this project and the capacity of local communities will be strengthened to support the schools during the crisis.

This project is supported by the EU with 4,469,900 EUR.

Countries: South Sudan and Uganda