FILE PHOTO: Teacher Ferguson Atak John Venus Star School in Juba, South Sudan on 10 March 2021 - Credit | Naftalin/Unicef South Sudan

Thirty-three thousand primary school teachers in South Sudan are expected to receive incentives covering a period of three months.

Each teacher will be paid 21,400 South Sudanese Pounds provided through the OUTREACH program.

In a statement seen by Eye Radio, the Ministry of General Education and Instructions and partners stated that the beneficiaries were identified through the teachers’ and students’ attendance records.

The project is implemented by UNICEF in collaboration with the ministry, with support from the European Union.

It will cover May to July incentives. The payment seeks to complement the salaries that the government pays to the teachers.

“The EU is particularly thankful to teachers who, despite sometimes challenging working conditions, continue to educate the children of South Sudan,” said Wim Vandenbroucke, head of cooperation to the EU Delegation to South Sudan, citing Coronavirus pandemic.

“The EU stresses the importance to keep schools running and therefore agreed to extend its support to pay incentives nation-wide with a further one-time payment.”

The incentive will be implemented in two phases.

In the first phase, approximately 33,000 teachers will be paid a one-time cash incentive to support their return to school and regular teaching activities from May to July 2021.

Then in November, approximately 7,450 – both qualified and volunteer-teachers in hard-to-reach areas, will be paid monthly cash incentives to support regular teaching activities in the locations.

In June 2021, the European Union announced an additional 700 million South Sudanese Pound incentives for primary school teachers in South Sudan.