Challenges Facing Pastoralist Education System in South Sudan

Ustaz John Garang Ayii Riak, Bor, South Sudan

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 (PW) — Pastoralists are people who keep large number of cattle and they follow a seasonal migratory pattern that can vary from year to year. Sometimes, they move with their animals and children from place to place in search of water and pasture for their livestock between summer and winter. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined mainly by the needs of the herd animals for water and fodder. These people are living in the cattle camps without no education at all or with less education due to their lifestyles of moving from one place to another. 

However, the government, International and National NGOs are trying to provide education to the pastoralist communities in the cattle camps through mobile schools so that to help the pastoralist community’s children to acquire education because the static schools does not work for them. But this education also has its’ own shortcoming due to the attitudes of thepastoralists toward education. For instance, the pastoralists value cattle rearing than sending their children to schools because the social organization of the pastoralists is all based on livestock raising as the primary economic activity for their survival.

In South Sudan, most of the people are pastoralists or cattle keepers for instance, the whole Greater Bhar Al Ghazal region are cattle keepers such as Lakes, Warrap and Northern Bhar Al Ghazal States as well as the Greater Upper Nile region also do keep cattle. For example, the entire Nuer, Dinka, Murle, Jie, Kacippo except Anyuak and Shilluk tribes who are both farmers and fishermen. In Central Equatoria, Mundari community keep large number of cattle compare to other Bari speaking groups who are mainly agriculturalists. 

Whereas many tribes in Eastern Equatoria are cattle keepers such as Taposa, Dingdinga, Buya and Lotuka, but Achol and Madi plus other tribes in EasternEquatoria keep less cattle. But, most of them are farmers and also rear goats and sheep plus chickens as their livelihood activity. In Western Equatoria State, few tribes keep cattle, but in small number, however, most of the people in Western Equatoria are both farmers and fishermen. 

I can easily say that, there are large number of populations are cattle keepers in all the three regions of South Sudan. But their school age children of pastoralist communities are missing education and also face a lot of challenges in attempt to acquire education through mobile school system.

Challenges facing pastoral communities in relation to acquisition of education

First and foremost, there are few school primary schools that are dedicated to the pastoralist communities in the country, but theseschools that are available for pastoralist communities are mobile schools. Mobile school refer to a form of alternative education facility that is normally not fixed, but it is one that caters for learning in more than one place over time and space. 

But they are lacking many things starting from teaching personnel, infrastructure, and teaching and learning resources. Mobile schools are supposed to provide a critical alternative link to provision of education services to many pastoral communities in the country, but the schools are not meeting the demands of the pastoralists and these caused the below challenges:

❖ Lack of good government policy; there is no well-organized system for pastoralist education in the nation and the existing schools dedicated for pastoralist communities have no clear government’s policy that regulating them. 

❖ Lack of curriculum; No pastoralist education curriculum in all education system and this has caused numerous challenges to the pastoralist education system in the country.

❖ Insecurity due to rampant cattle raiding and constant attacks; there is widespread and constant attacks for cattle raiding during day time at the grazing land and water source areas and cattle camps are also attack at mid nights by other armed youths and due to this, many people lost their dear lives and cattle. A number of concerns have been raised about past disarmament campaigns, including the use of force. But there is always discrimination and poor disarmament or demilitarization and recycling of weaponsfrom the soldiers back to the civilian’s hands. In addition, cattle raiding disrupts movement and travel to schools and this caused insecurity because the children and teachers do not cross to other cattle camps due the fear of being kills.

❖ Lack of a functioning judiciary to punish the cattle raiders, no functioning judicial system exists in country that punish cattle raiders. In addition to challenges related to human and material resources, the country has a plural legal structure which includes both customary and statutory laws and draws on multiple sources of law. The chiefs’ courts and the statutory courts operate in parallel and in fact, they are not fully implemented. 

❖ Masculinity; In some of tribes, cattle are considered as social symbols of wealth and status. Uncivilized young men in the cattle camps who have been initiated into adulthood are responsible for protecting and acquisition of more cattle. Furthermore, this also to demonstrate their ability of being brave and engaging in fighting to defend their families and wealth gives them sense of respect in the community and this undermine the education system in pastoralist community. One of the chief said that being a “good fighter gives people a sense of pride and defines ideas of masculinity and male self-worth.” But to me, all these are not good, but they are barbaric actions.

❖ Lack of livelihood alternative; cattle raiding was linked to a lack of livelihood alternatives as cattle keepers also believed that, if they had other opportunities, if they had something to do for their living, then they would not raid, so few would get involved in cattle raiding.

❖ Much works for pastoralist’ children; school hours do not allow pastoralist children to do their cattle duties and their movement do not allow their children to settle in the schools. 

❖ Shortage of qualified teachers; there is always shortage of qualified teachers for pastoralist education since the teachers are pick within the pastoral community. Very few teachers are willing to work in remote areas that lack basic services. The quality of the education delivered is further undermined by the teachers’ lack of competencies and motivation. Most of the teachers come from pastoralist communities and these are dropped out of primary school, leaving them poorly qualified to teach children. While they work under harsh conditions, these teachers have lower status compared to teachers in urban areas, lower salaries, and receive less guidance on how to teach than schoolteachers in traditional schools, they also have a temporary contract, no pension, no social security or medical insurance and their wage is about quarter of that of a school teacher.

❖ Lack of proper monitoring and evaluation; there is no proper monitoring and evaluation of the pastoral education in the areas because policy makers come once per month or term.

❖ Lack of clear vision for pastoralist education in those areas where cattle are kept.

❖ Lack of retention of qualified teachers because of the qualified ones want to work in the towns and cities where there are better services, but not in the village’s levels.

❖ Rigid curricula; this may be culturally distant and not relevant to the pastoral way of life,

❖ High labour; Due to demand from pastoral children generally and gender inequalities in child labour specifically for girls.

❖ Ignorance of parents, unwillingness of parents to prioritize education than cattle keeping.

❖ Long geographical distances and lack of transport means;Since the cattle keepers moves from one place to another, they cover long distances and this make teachers get tired from moving since they don’t have transport facilities.

❖ Forced and early marriages among girls; removal of girls from school due to demands for dowry is another challenge facing pastoral education in the country. Pastoralists want education and they know that it is essential to their survival as individuals and as a community, but the right to education should never come at the expense of someone’s livelihood simply parents value cattle activities than education.

❖ Lack of Teaching and learning materials are fundamental in the provision of quality education. If teachers in mobile schools lack sufficient teaching and learning resources, low quality education will be provided to pupils. Lack of coordination with national ministry level in distribution of materials and sometimes weather condition such as rain destroyed books.

❖ Insufficient and inappropriate education infrastructure;There is always poor school infrastructure in the region and South Sudan is included. Moreover, learning spaces need to be improved and maintained to create conducive learning and teaching atmosphere so as to improve quality education provision, because the aforementioned factors are interrelated and affect provision of quality education for pastoralist children in mobile primary schools.

The following recommendations should be suggested to the government and the International and National NGOs that are dealing in education sector. 

❖ The MoGEI should to put more efforts to lobby for money to implement mobile schools for pastoralist children as well as sensitize parents on need for formal education. 

❖ Policy makers should make ensure that integration alternative education is incorporated into pastoralist education so that it should encourage adult learning in the pastoralist community.  

❖ The size of family has key influence in provision of education for pastoralists’ children in mobile schools and therefore, policy makers need to address issues of polygamy practices. 

❖ The national government should be powerful on the pastoralist education so as to achieve the SDG agenda 4 that emphasizes inclusive education and put more preventive measures to address the issues of child labor in the pastoralist communities in term of cattle rearing.

❖ The pastoralist education’s teachers should be given propertraining to equip them with tutorial skills so that they can be effective in the teaching profession. 

❖ The government should facilitate workshop and seminars for mobile schools’ managers as well teachers in pastoralists to sensitize them on importance of mobile education. 

❖ The education partners/ agencies should coordinate with mobile school teachers to ensure that the schools are running meritoriously as well as guide the mobile school teachers. 

❖ The Ministry of General Education in collaboration with other education partners to set up appropriate programs to educate children in cattle camps and children of fishers as well.

❖ There is a need to recruit female teachers, since pastoralistswomen lag behind men in all levels of education and also face more gender-specific restrictions in accessing outside physical health aspects, understanding of the motivations of families and of girls themselves towards education will be central to increasing the enrolment rates of girls and women.

❖ The education partners should provide adequate teaching and learning materials so that to facilitate learning and teaching process of pastoralist education in the cattle camps for pastoralists because teaching and learning materials are very vital in the learning methods.

It is good to promote pastoralist education system forpastoralists, fish men and farming groups so that they should have an opportunity to build capacity in the countryside general public, helping them to make informed decisions about their cattle, farms and to innovate in agricultural affairs. 

If the government recruit trained teachers for mobile primary schools’ provision of education would improve. The poor employment of teachers has created serious shortage of teachers hence the presence of untrained teachers in mobile schools.

Conclusively, if teachers in mobile schools lack adequate teaching and learning facilities, low quality education will be delivered to pupils. Moreover, learning spaces need to be improved and maintained to create a conducive learning and teaching environment so as to improve education provision. The above factors are interconnected and affect provision of education for nomadic pastoralists’ children in mobiles schools.

Therefore, all children and adults in this country, with their individual strengths and weaknesses, with their hopes and expectations, have the right to education no matter where they live because education is a debt from the present to the future generations.

The author, Ustaz John Garang Ayii Riak, is a graduate with a Master’s degree of Arts in a Comparative Education, Zhejiang Normal University China and Bachelor’s degree of Arts with Education, Bugema University, Kampala Uganda. He is a lecturer and Inclusive Education Specialist; he lives in South Sudan. Can be reach at: johngayii2014@gmail.com

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