(Photo: UNICEF South Sudan/ Nathanaelle Ngabe Nguegan)

Authorities in Greater Pibor Administrative Area say only one female student has been enrolled for the upcoming certificate of secondary education examinations.

The administrative area currently has one functional school, a situation resulting from the recent conflicts and floods.

This year, the authorities say the number of female students has drastically reduced compared to last year’s enrollment that saw 13 girls sitting for the final secondary school examinations.

Pibor Minister of Education, Simon Gain said the low enrollment is partly due to cultural norms that hinder girls’ access to education.

According to Gain, many girls drop out from primary schools and gets married off, depriving them of chance to attend secondary education.

“The culture itself is one of the aspects as Pibor is one of the pastoralists community, we really have a problem of lack of female learners,” he said.

“The parents are not allowing their daughters to come to education. Secondly, there is also issue of early marriage, you find some of the girls when they reach primary eight, they drop from school and get married.”

“So, these are some of the factors that affect the female education in the Greater Pibor”.

Last week, the National Ministry of General Education and Instruction says 35,459 candidates including 22,920 males and 12,539 females have been registered for the forthcoming exams in 398 schools across the country.

The examination is expected to commence late March.