Juba Technical Secondary School
By:
Everett Kamandala Minga: July 29th 2011
Juba-South Sudan
Grounds of the Juba Technical Secondary School
Juba Technical Secondary School (JTSS) is the only technical school of its kind in South Sudan offering three (3) years of high school course work and technical studies prior to entrance to the University. Students come from all the ten (10) States of the South. The school prepares students for further studies in Colleges and Universities as well as preparing them for skilled work in the industrial, building and automotive sectors. The curriculum of the school is based on the Sudan School Certificate and students are exposed to rigorous subjects with the exception of Biology, and course offered are in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, English, Religion and in addition rigorous Technical subjects. The technical courses offered are in
- Carpentry and Joinery
- Building and Concrete
- Welding
- Automotive Technology
- General Electricity
Plumbing and pipe welding is a field that I have encouraged the school to introduce in an effort to prepare more of their students to enter work in the oilfields of South Sudan
Carpentry and Joinery workshop
These desks were designed and assembled by JTSS Carpentry & Joinery students
Carpentry student at work
Carpentry and Joinery Instructor
After successfully sitting for the Sudan school certificate; students with excellent results are admitted to Universities to study engineering and sciences. Those with less than satisfactory academic result usually pursue work as skilled workers and are well prepared technically to do well in their fields of study.
Gender Representation in JTSS
I was very impressed to learn that the school has made great effort to recruit and admit girls in to their program. Currently the school has about 350 students and about 50 of them are girls. The Deputy Head Master Mr. John Duku Manas informed me that for this current academic year they had only 180 slots, but over 280 students applied. The calendar year for this school is May to February.
25% of the student body is girls. These girls are planning to be architects
Feature engineers of South Sudan with the deputy Head Master
These girls are proud to be among the few girls in South Sudan to have an opportunity to study JTSS. They plan to major in architecture in University
Difficulties facing JTSS
The school faces a lot of challenges; the most basic of which is the lack of a definite curriculum focusing on technical education from the GOSS Ministry of Education. This is an urgent concern the Ministry of Education should address and the technical curriculum to be developed must focus on the local market demand for technical work. Some of the problems the school is faced with are as follows:
- The school needs financial support for the purchase of materials and tools for practical work. Currently the government of Central Equatoria supplies the financial support but it takes time to remmit assistance
- The school lacks adequate manpower because there are very few technical teachers in the South. The Central Equatoria State needs to hire more teachers
- They lack workshop attendants to prepare the workshops prior to practical classes. There are four workshops for Building and Construction, Carpentry and Joinery, Welding and Automotive technology
- JTSS lacks the finances to pay laborers to help students prepare projects in building in construction. The laborers are to help in mixing sands with cement and do other basic and manual preparation prior to the students coming in to direct and supervise the work
- The school lacks means of transportation to transport students to the field
- Students need breakfast because many come from families that cannot afford to pay for breakfast
Call for Help and Expansion of the School
“Education is the cornerstone of economic opportunity and development and any efforts to help young people realize their full potential must begin there”. The economies of all African Countries are changing into knowledge based economies and South Sudan being the newest Country on Earth must make an effort to move into such an economy. The changing face of technology requires an individual to be specialized in a particular skill. Only a person who is expert in a particular field can get a good job. Technical education also offers the advantages of preparing students to obtain the right set of skills and training in a high-demand industry. A technical school can teach high-demand courses in fields such as agriculture, business or commerce, engineering, technology, automotive, home economics, fishery and skills trade such as welding and blacksmithing.
There is a need to expand such a school throughout the ten (10) States of the Republic of South Sudan and JTSS is planning to do just that, expand into all the States of South Sudan. JTSS is also planning to build dormitories in its current premises to host students with no family ties within the vicinity of Juba. The organization that has helped JTSS for the past three years will be moving on by the end of July and this leaves the school with no funding partner. It is prudent that we as citizens of South Sudan do what it takes to ensure that such a school is adequately funded by seeking proposals to fund this school. JTSS is located within the premises of Buluk Intermediate School.
The welding shop at JTSS
Students busy at work
These finished window frames are made by the students themselves
Theory put into Practical training and action
Welding instructor
Building and joinery practical workshop
Theory being put into practical work
Automotive workshop: Skeleton of a car before major repair works
Remodified car retrofitted with new engines, transmission and other major works ready for use. The students use this vehicle which they remodified for practicals on driving
Fundamentals of engine dynamics
Library: As you can see this library needs a lot of help and this is one of two shelves void of textbooks
Computer lab: These are donated computers, out of 24 computers, 8 were recently stolen when thieves broke in
Electronic workshop for repairing electronics
JTSS students on break
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