Students in class - courtesy photo

The Ministry of General Education in Central Equatoria State says students in remote parts of the state will soon receive nationality certificates through mobile civil registry teams to enable them register for P.8 and S.4 examinations.

The announcement follows a meeting between State Minister of General Education and Instruction Lupai Satimon Andrew and the Director General for Civil Registry, National Passport and Migration, Major General Elia Costa, on Saturday.

Minister Andrew said the initiative is intended to help school children in Yei River, Morobo, Kajo-Keji, Lainya and Terekeka counties obtain nationality certificates without travelling to Juba.

“The director of passport and nationality has come up with a very important initiative that they will be reaching the schools, particularly to the candidates, in order for them to be registered and get their nationality certificate,”  he said.

He said many students have previously been forced to travel alone to the capital to complete the process, creating difficulties ahead of national examinations.

“We have often faced some difficulties from candidates in getting the nationality certificates, especially those ones from downtown counties of Yei, Morobo, Kajo-keji, Lania, Terekeka. It has been difficult for us or for the candidates who come all alone from those ends to Juba to get their nationality certificate,”  he added.

According to the minister, the mobile registration teams will first be deployed to schools in Juba before extending the exercise to other counties across the state.

For his part, General Costa said the meeting resolved to begin issuing nationality certificates to students preparing to sit national examinations.

“We agreed that as soon as possible we are going to launch the process of the nationality in the schools. So, we also, he told us about the teachers who are working as volunteers in the government school, also they are lacking nationality, and then for that one we have no problem for it,” he said.

He said the exercise will also cover volunteer teachers working in government schools who do not yet have nationality documents.