Gender-responsive and inclusive education in South Sudan: A research project on teacher coaching, mentoring and networking
Programs and partnerships
Lead institution(s)
Summary
In South Sudan, which has undergone prolonged war and strife in the last decade, 63% of teachers lack formal training and have insufficient support to accomplish their duties effectively.Read more
In South Sudan, which has undergone prolonged war and strife in the last decade, 63% of teachers lack formal training and have insufficient support to accomplish their duties effectively. Teachers are underprepared and unmotivated since there are few accredited pathways to qualified teacher status and little continuous professional development. Teachers are often unpaid or have poor incomes. This, combined with little training in gender equality, equity and inclusion, can make schools feel unsupportive and uninspiring. Low-quality education, along with a low perceived value of education, leads to poor learning outcomes and negatively influences enrolment and retention, particularly among girls.
The Teacher Coaching, Mentoring, and Networking model for developing gender-responsive and inclusive education was created and tested in Kenya’s Kakuma and Dabaab refugee camps and has been implemented in South Sudan since 2021. It aims to encourage adolescent females and female youth (10-24 years) in crisis-hit South Sudan to pursue educational opportunities. This project will create and disseminate evidence to help adapt, contextualize and scale the effects of the model. It will examine if and how the model can be used on a large scale to prepare teachers in South Sudan to inclusively help children returning to school after often extended absences and ensure at-risk learners, particularly girls, stay enrolled.
The project will use an iterative and phased approach, including collaborative and participatory reflection and co-design with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of General Education and Literacy, teacher-training colleges and development partners supporting education in South Sudan.
This project was selected through an open competitive call from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Knowledge and Innovation Exchange to improve children’s access and retention in education in emergencies and in fragile, conflict- and violence-affected contexts in GPE partner countries.