ERICC Working Paper _ Political economy of education system (in)coherence in South Sudan
Creators: name: ERICC Consortium
name: Homonchuk, Olha
name: Wilson, Nicholas
name: Kelsall, Tim
name: Fortacz, Alexandra
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: 390201
subject: Education policy

description: The South Sudanese education system is under severe strain from protracted conflict, repeated climate shocks, and arrivals of refugees from Sudan. About half of children are out of school, and among those who enrol, less than a quarter complete primary education (UNESCO, 2023). Permanent school infrastructure is sparse, and there are problems with teacher pay, training and retention. Moreover, available education provision often does not meet the needs of marginalised groups, particularly pastoralist communities, children with disabilities and displaced populations. Problems are exacerbated by unpredictable funding levels, budget execution issues, and financial leakages during cash transactions due to limited banking services. South Sudan’s fragile political settlement, shaped by competition for oil and other rents, often through violent means, is not conducive to the provision of quality public education. Elites arguably do not need to address the educational needs of youth via public service provision to maintain their power. Despite recent education budget increases, it remains to be seen how far pockets of committed public servants will be able to change the fortunes of the education sector considering the wider financial management issues. The disruption of South Sudan’s oil exports through Sudan, which caused a 60% fall in the country's oil exports in 2024, could destabilise the already fragile political settlement.Among all stakeholders, families and communities show the strongest commitment to education. Families often initiate and sustain community schools by allocating a significant share of household income to education despite relentless inflation and dire living conditions. Unfortunately, grassroots-level stakeholders such as families have little capacity to influence the elite via civil society channels. Community-level commitment to education contrasts starkly with the priorities of the humanitarian sector. In 2023, the humanitarian industry in South Sudan dedicated a meagre 1.5% of available funding to education (OCHA, 2023a). Moreover, normative commitments to cross-sectoral coordination with the development sector, which could facilitate the efficient use of limited resources, are frequently compromised by a fiercely competitive project-based mindset entrenched within humanitarian sector operations. In this context, there are no easy solutions to the problems of access, continuity and quality of education for South Sudan’s crisis-hit population. However, there are a few avenues for reform in donor approaches that are worthy of further exploration, which we tentatively recommend:Sensitise donors to the cost of non-cooperation between humanitarian and development actors and the perverse incentives that sustain itStrengthen skills and capacities of committed public servants where they existEmpower communities to access education they value Explore ways to expand education access to pastoralist communities by collaborating with donors focused on peacebuilding and climate resilience initiatives