In Western Equatoria State, it has become difficult to recruit more teachers because of low budget, the Education Minister has said.

Pia Phillip Michael says a large number of pupils enroll into primary schools every year, but the number of teachers remains low.

He says there has been no increment in the salaries of teachers for the last five years.

“Every year, we get thousands of additional children in schools, but the conditional transfers to pay teachers remains stagnant,” Mr Michael stated.

“We have good teachers, good number of teachers who have been trained but how do we bring them on board if the money remains the way it was in 2008, or 2010?”

Mr Michael says the state ministry of education is trying to improve access to secondary school education.