Construct primary schools
Provide scholastic materials for pupils in various locations
Train head teachers and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) on efficient school management
Fast-track teacher training
Train teachers on Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE)
Support schools with Income Generating Activities (IGA)
The Bridge Project, in close collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Torit (CDoT), thus focuses on increasing access to and providing increased quality (improved learning environment with facilities for boys and girls) and relevant education (provision of relevant scholastic materials). It is constructing new primary school, adding hardware components existing schools and setting up and training various school management committees, such as Parent-Teacher’s Associations (PTAs), to strengthen governance. Communities are mobilised to assist in the construction of the water and sanitation facilities. Scholastic materials are provided. Schools are given the opportunity to set up IGAs to help them sustain some of their operational costs. In addition, the Bridge Project trains teachers, some of whom will serve in the newly constructed schools. When complete, more boys and girls will have access to quality education in an enabling environment; they will have trained teachers and access to scholastic materials to aid their learning. The newly constructed facilities will increase the enrolment of pupils by approximately 2,000 boys and girls per year and up to 25,000 pupils in other schools will benefit from the above-mentioned outputs in various ways.
Key Achievements and Pending Activities
St. Teresa School Construction
The first stage in constructing the St. Teresa Primary School consisted of facilitating planning meetings with all the stakeholders involved. A location in Torit was agreed upon, technical drawings were made, bills of quantities issued, construction material purchased and the community mobilised to clear the site. By the beginning of March, the construction had started in earnest.
Minimum standards for schools require that a primary school compound be provided with two blocks with four classrooms each, an administration block with three offices, housing for six teachers and separate latrines for teachers, boys and girls. Technical details on the construction system can be found here. St. Teresa Primary School in Torit is expected to be complete by the end of October. The construction of another primary school will commence in Magwi County.
Scholastic Materials
In order to provide increased quality and relevant education, the Bridge Project is not only improving learning environments with facilities for boys and girls, it is also providing relevant scholastic materials.
So far, the purchase and distribution of scholastic material has been limited to the purchase and distribution of 1800 school desks and 20 black boards to pupils in various locations. Distributions have been to schools in Ibboni and Isoke in Greater Torit and Nanyangcor and Namorunyang in Greater Kapoeta. More are to be distributed in Kapoeta and Narus through local partners and a number of school desks and blackboards are reserved for the schools (that will be) constructed in Torit and Magwi.
Fast-Track Training for Teachers
The fast-track trainings are intensive three to five week trainings organised by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS). The trainings are intended to improve the delivery of education services in the years to come by way of increasing the basic management and community mobilisation skills of teachers, head teachers, county education directors and their deputies. The Bridge Project has financed the fast-track trainings and added and delivered a Children’s Hygiene And Sanitation Training (CHAST) component to the workshops.
Fast-Track trainings have been provided to head teachers and county education staff of all counties of Eastern Equatoria. Trainings have taken place in Torit, Kapoeta and Narus; whereas the first was contracted to the MoEST, the second was facilitated by Bridge staff. Thus far, roughly half of a planned 300 MoEST staff have taken part in the workshops. County education directors mentioned having appreciated the trainings, feeling that they helped them improve, among others, in the areas of lesson planning, class management, and the use of teaching and learning activities. More fast-track teacher trainings are currently being organised.
INEE-MSEE Training
The Bridge Project has introduced the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE) in Eastern Equatoria. MSEE is promoted by the Inter-Agency Network of Education in Emergencies (INEE) and its trainers are seen as educational accompaniers to the SPHERE Projects. Therein, the emphasis lies on recognising education as a pillar in emergency response. Emergency needs should not be limited to catering for physiological needs, rather, because some emergencies are protracted, certain services, including education, need to continue. More information on INEE and MSEE can be found here.
In all, the Bridge Project has organised two MSEE-INEE, peace education and leadership trainings for Local Authorities (LAs), Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representatives. The workshops have taken place in Narus and in Kapoeta and were attended by 20 participants each. An additional two such trainings will take place in the near future.
This component was subcontracted to one of the Bridge Project’s international partners, the Jesuit Relief Services (JRS). JRS already possessed the MSEE know-how and capacity to conduct the trainings.
Income Generating Activities for Schools
Although not yet implemented, the Bridge Project will soon facilitate the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). Before these responsibilities revert to the government in the longer term, the PTAs will assume responsibility for the proper management of the schools, the mobilisation of resources as well as the maintenance and running of services.
The Bridge Project will train the PTAs in school management and will provide them with additional support by giving them the opportunity to set up Income Generating Activities (IGAs) to help them sustain some of their operational costs. All this will be done in partnership with local CSOs and the communities served by the schools in question. The Kapoeta Development Initiative (KDI), for instance, has identified a number of marketable ideas for IGAs, based on local needs. Among others, KDI has suggested running mills for grinding maize, so-called pocho mills, brick-making, processing of hides and the provision of sewing machines to make and mend clothes. The feasibility and sustainability of these suggested IGAs will be further discussed with the PTAs once they have been established. The pocho mills, however, were likewise identified by the CDoT as an IGA addressing real needs and with a high potential for success. Ten mills were therefore purchased and have recently arrived in Torit. Two of these will be handed to KDI, one will be provided to the PTA in the St. Teresa School in Torit and the remainder will be distributed to CDoT-run schools and other schools throughout the State of Eastern Equatoria via other local CSOs. All IGAs will take place through school committees and PTA will receive the training required to run them successfully.
