A religious leader is appealing to well-wishers to help fund the construction of a semi-permanent shelter for pupils learning under trees at Nzumara Village in Maridi County, Western Equatoria state.
Early this year, the Episcopal Church and the area parents for the first time established a Nursery and Primary school in Mburoko Payam.
Situated about eight kilometers South of Maridi town, the school has six teachers with over 100 pupils.
In photos seen by Eye Radio, the pupils are made to sit in the open with some blackboards hanging from mango trees.
Others are placed on chairs or often held in their hands by the teachers.
Speaking to Eye Radio this morning from Maridi, Reverent Tito Taban says the school often calls off lessons whenever there is rain.
He added that the pupils lack learning materials such as books and pens.
“We have a nursery school and primary one to five who ate taking their lessons under the tree, but the challenge is when the rain comes they run and hide in the church,” Reverent Taban said.
“The board is not there, furniture for children and teachers are not there,
“Those who are willing if they can join hands, we can buy wooden boards, paint it and use it as a blackboard for the children, use some as furniture for the children and other scholastic materials for the school.”
Rev. Taban, however, went on to say they are now consulting local engineers to design the structure of the school and the cost.
Early this year, the UN Children’s agency UNICEF said there were about 2,024 schools operating under the trees across the country due to multiple reasons.
It says some of the learning facilities in some parts of the country submerged while others collapsed last year due to continued floods.
The agency then pledged to construct over 2000 classrooms in conflict and flood devastated areas where schools are operating under the trees.