Pupils took their exams in an open field at St. Daniel Primary School in Tonj North. Nov. 18, 2024. (-)

South Sudan with funding from the Global Partnership for Education, has launched a transformative $58 million initiative aimed at expanding access to quality and inclusive education across South Sudan, with a special focus on girls and marginalized communities.

The four-year project seeks to revamp basic education and directly benefit over 300,000 learners, while indirectly reaching an additional 600,000 across 20 counties.

Target areas include some of the most education-deprived regions such as Jonglei, Lakes, and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

The ambitious program brings together three major funding streams under a single, integrated, government-led framework: the System Transformation Grant, the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA), and the System Capacity Grant.

Implementation is being spearheaded by the ministry in partnership with UNICEF and other development partners.

Through the System Transformation Grant, 250,000 children—half of them girls—will gain access to critical educational support.

Among them are 3,000 children with disabilities and 1,120 from pastoralist communities. The program will also extend benefits to approximately 7,300 teachers nationwide.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator will support 33,000 girls and 2,000 children with disabilities. An additional 29,500 boys and 1,650 teachers will benefit from focused interventions such as Accelerated Learning Programs and comprehensive sexuality education.

The System Capacity Grant, meanwhile, is designed to strengthen national education systems by enhancing policy development, planning, and service delivery across the education sector.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of General Education and Instruction, Dr. Kuyok Abol Kuyok, emphasized the urgency and importance of the initiative.

“This funding from the Global Partnership for Education will provide life-saving educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of crisis-affected girls and boys across the country. We call on global leaders to scale up support to sustain this momentum,” he said.

UNICEF Representative Obia Achieng echoed the call, underscoring the historical exclusion faced by many children, especially girls.

“Boys, and especially girls, have been short-changed for too long, with no clear path to education. As Nelson Mandela said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.’”

According to UNICEF, as of 2025, an estimated 2.8 million school-aged children in South Sudan are not in school, accounting for over 70% of children in that age group. This new initiative is expected to reverse that trend and lay the foundation for a robust educational transformation.