Wani Michael, executive director of Okay Africa Foundation at an African Union youth function in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in April, 2019 | Credit | Facebook

An advocate is calling on the government to implement the General Education Act which demands that all children in the country be given access to education.

The Constitution states that basic education “must be free and compulsory to all children in the country.”

The General Education Act demands the eradication of illiteracy, improvement of the employability of young people and adults, and the provision of equitable access to learning opportunities for all citizens to redress the past inequalities in education provision.

It also expects the government to encourage a culture of innovation, develop and promote a general scientific approach in education.

Wani Michael, the Executive Director of Okay Africa Foundation, a youth policy advocacy organization, urges the parliament to allocate 10 per cent of the national budget to the education sector.

He said the budget should also help elevate the conditions of most young people who are uneducated and unemployed.

Wani added that such investment should target vocational training for those who have not gone through tertiary education.

“The government [should] invest in the education of young people by reviving the issue of the polytechnic so that young people can have access to polytechnic training for those who have never gone to school [so that] they sustain themselves,” he said.

Polytechnic courses include; electronics and electrical engineering, computer engineering, automobile, textile technology, and mechanical engineering among others.

The constitution states that by 2040 South Sudan should be an educated and well-informed nation.

To achieve South Sudan Vision 2040, government institutions such as the Ministry of Education is mandated to develop the necessary policies and regulatory framework, develop and implement human resource management, financial and asset accountability systems to guide actions of education managers at all levels.