Pregnant teenage girl. | Courtesy of Radio Tamazuj.

The Ministry of General Education said it has introduced an alternative learning program for drop-out school girls including those pregnant.

Esther Akumu, the Director General at the Ministry has appealed to pregnant and eloped girls as well as married women to return to learning.

“The girls who drop out, come back to learning. Sometimes when they drop out, they don’t drop out just because they want to drop out,” said Esther.

The UN agency has suggested that early and forced marriage, and obligations to domestic chores are some of the issues preventing girls from pursuing or completing education.

Girls are said to be the largest group of out-of-school children in the country, with factors such as poverty, child marriage and cultural and religious views hindering their education.

Another research by the South Sudan Medical Journal indicates the country is among the top ten countries with the highest prevalence of adolescent pregnancy.

The prevalence of adolescent pregnancy reportedly exceeds 70%, with the causes attributed to social, cultural, political and health systems.

Meanwhile, the education official appeals to young girls and women who have dropped out due to pregnancy or marriage related issues to joint the alternative learning program.

“They have a reason that makes them drop out, usually they are either pregnant or eloped. But the most important thing is, we are always encouraging, and even those who are married, we ask them to come back to school,” she said.

In 2018, South Sudan was projected to have the highest rate of out-of-school children at least 2.2 million children, according to the government and UNESCO.

The report said the situation was not particularly favorable to girls, many of whom are kept from school due to poverty, early marriage, dangers in traveling to class and having too many chores at home.

Some of the out-of-school children are living in pastoral communities, moving with their cattle and are not able to attend regular classes said UN agency.

UNICEF also stated, the situation is putting the future of the children and that of the country at risk.

However, the Ministry and partners said they have devised an alternative to support vulnerable girls.

“We have the alternative learning program, we already have some partners who have started supporting us in keeping these girls in school and their children are given caretakers in the schools such that they continue.”

The alternative learning program is a venue of learning for children and adolescents who missed the opportunity to join schooling or have left the official school system at some point and this includes children affected by emergencies and conflict.

It is tailored to support girls and boys who have never attended school, have dropped out or those who cannot be mainstreamed into the normal education system without catching-up the lessons that they lost.