EU, UNICEF to support Primary School Teachers in Hard-to-Reach areas with incentives for 2 years

Juba, 31 January 2021 – At least 7,450 primary school teachers in hard-to-reach areas will receive monthly cash incentives for 24 Months through the OUTREACH programme. The European Union funds the project and UNICEF is implementing it in collaboration with National and State Ministries of General Education and Instruction (MOGEI).

The 7,450 primary teachers (1,950 qualified and 5,500 volunteer) will receive the monthly financial incentive as a training allowance under the Continuous Professional Development (CPD), which will build capacity of volunteer teachers and enhance teacher retention in hard-to-reach areas to support regular teaching activities.

Teachers were selected by MOGEI through a comprehensive assessment of schools in hard-to-reach counties through the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the Education Cluster People in Need (PIN) mapping and the mapping of out-of-school children (OOSC).  

“Teachers in hard-to-reach areas of South Sudan face multiple challenges and there is a lack of qualified female teachers. The OUTREACH programme will help overcome the shortage of teachers by building the capacity of volunteer teachers already teaching in the hard-to-reach regions,” said Hon. Awut Deng Acuil, National Minister of General Education and Instructions.

“While the European Union had to phase out the general incentives’ support for teachers and hand over this responsibility to the South-Sudanese authorities, we are happy to keep providing incentive payments to Primary School Teachers in Hard-to-Reach areas where educators work in extremely difficult circumstances,” said the EU Ambassador to South Sudan, Christian Bader.

The programme will also include a piloting of mobility allowance to 100 female teachers to attract and retain them as role models for female students in Hard-to-Reach areas.

“Without teachers in classrooms children cannot learn and these incentive payments will help to bring them back to the classrooms to facilitate quality learning for our children. Schools are also safe spaces for children where they are protected and can play and meet friends,” said Hamida Lasseko, UNICEF’s Country Representative.

The monthly teacher incentive payments will attract and retain teachers in schools and the training will improve their teaching skills and eventually contribute to improved learning outcomes for children in hard-to-reach areas in South Sudan.

In 2021, the first phase of the OUTREACH programme provided one-off payment of incentives   to 34,312 teachers nationwide for the back-to-school campaign.

Teachers are the backbone of the education sector and this programme will improve learning outcomes for children in South Sudan and help to provide equitable access to quality education across the country.

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