Cattle Camp or Education? A Young Mother’s Dilemma

Despite widespread awareness of girls’ education as an issue in South Sudan, many barriers still prevent girls from going to school. Evidence has shown that awareness of the importance of girls’ education alone is not enough; rather, there needs to be a process of behavioural, practical, and social change. 

GESS is helping to create an enabling social-cultural environment for supporting girls’ education in the whole of South Sudan through behavioural change communication activities. This is done through the ‘Our School’ radio programme and community mobilisation. 

‘Our School’ radio programme is a 15-minute innovative magazine-style radio programme that follows the lives of girls and their families as they strive and resolve the challenges of going to school. These on-air role models act as positive examples, encouraging listeners to adopt certain behaviours over time. The programmes are produced by a South Sudanese team of producers. They are aired in local languages on several radio stations across South Sudan. 

Community mobilisation activities target communities with no radio coverage and communities that speak different languages from the broadcasts to reinforce attitudes and behaviour featured in the radio programmes. 

Community mobilisation activities are currently occurring in some of the more hard-to-reach locations across the country. GESS’ Community Mobilisation Volunteers (CMVs) conduct family listening groups and community dialogue sessions in these five counties. This is where radios with pre-recorded episodes of des of the ‘Our School’ radio programme are given to households for 14 days, before moving to another household. Each Community Mobilisation Volunteer has a total of 20 radios which are given to 20 households each for 14 days, during which the families can listen to the radio programmes in their own time. 

Community mobilisation has helped to encourage positive behaviour change, especially amongst parents and guardians, eliminating negative cultural practices that prevent girls from going to school. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these activities have increased the enrolment of girls in schools across the country. 

The Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) is calling on school management, with the help of local Ministry officials, to ensure that all vulnerable learners, including pregnant learners and children and young people with disabilities, are permitted to enrol and finish their education and to sit examinations.  

“My name is Aquilina and I am a 24-year-old mother from Terekeka County. I have always been an active listener of the ‘Our School’ radio programme and a long-time beneficiary of GESS cash transfers. Eight years back my uncle did not want me to go to school and so I dropped out. Now I am a mother to a baby girl, and this year she is in Primary 1,” Aquilina said. 

Aquilina attends secondary school in Terekeka County of Central Equatoria State. Terekeka is home to some of South Sudan’s famed cattle camps and residents in Terekeka are predominantly cattle keepers.  

There are over 69 schools currently operating in Terekeka, including seven secondary schools. Enrolment of girls is much lower compared to that of boys. In 2023, data from GESS’ Schools’ Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS) shows that only 8,139 girls, out of a total of 20,939 learners, were enrolled in secondary schools. It is widely believed that early and forced marriage is the number one factor affecting school enrolment and influencing school dropout among girls in Terekeka County, followed by household chores and cattle rearing.  

Culturally, in South Sudan, the worth of a girl is often placed on the bride price and her ability to bear children. Therefore, many communities do not see the benefit of investing in education. Many parents and guardians would rather send the son to school because the daughter is expected to be married into another family and will bear children for her family-in-law – therefore bringing wealth and prosperity to the family-in-law, rather than her family of birth.   

Aquilina, like many teenage girls across the country, was forced to marry at a young age. “My situation was bad. Right from Primary 4, my uncle with whom I stayed, stopped me from going to school. He forced me to look after animals and his children. But I kept going to school without his notice and one day during exam period, he found me carrying books, and this angered him. Consequently, I was punished heavily and taken to a cattle camp where I was forced to marry. The marriage did not last, even after a child, because the man did not have cattle [to pay for the marriage], and so my uncle brought me back home from the cattle camp. Barely a year later, he demanded that I marry another man who presented himself as being responsible and wealthy.” 

“Years passed by without schooling. Then, one evening, I went to a neighbour’s house. The family was listening to the ‘Our School’ episode about education for young mothers. I received inspiration to not only go to school, but to complete it, and learned about the right to education. It was not clear how I would complete [school], but I remembered the GESS programme supports girls with cash transfers. And so, I decided to enrol in Senior 1 and use the GESS money to buy things I needed to attend school. As a result, I am now in Senior 4. After I did that, I started encouraging other girls who suffered the same way. I believe that young mothers who have children should not give up! They should go to school and achieve their dreams.”  

GESS Community Mobilization Focal Person, Daniel, during his field visit to Aquilina’s school, said, “I see a change in her. She looked determined and focused, and now a role model in the community.”  

GESS research found that 4,780 schoolgirls across South Sudan were pregnant in October 2020. This number is thought to be higher than usual due to COVID-19 school closures. Many of these girls have been at risk of being refused access to school to sit their examinations or to finish their education. 

In a landmark moment for pregnant girls, the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) issued a circular in January 2021 that orders school management and teachers to allow pregnant and nursing learners back to school to sit their examinations and complete their education. 

By returning to school, young mothers, like Aquilina, can continue their education and acquire valuable knowledge and skills, empowering them to make informed decisions and take control of their lives, enhancing their self-confidence and sense of independence.  

By pursuing education, young mothers become positive role models for their children and others in the community. They demonstrate the importance of education and hard work, inspiring others to follow them and seek educational opportunities. 

Categorised in: Cash Transfers, Girls' Education, Human Interest Story, Social & Behavioural Change Communication