The school in Otallo, where 500 students had greeted us with their songs, had only five teachers. A school I visited in Obodi, Pochalla County, had 250 students and just two teachers. They also taught in two shifts. Most teachers are volunteers. Community members may provide some food, or help a teacher work his field.
Money is usually out of the question.
Teacher training is also lacking. According to Professor Martin Marial Takpiny, education officer with the New Sudan Council of Churches and former dean of the college of education at the University of Bahr El-Ghazal, the educational attainment of South Sudanese teachers is not very high. But otherwise, early on, the average was secondary school, those who finished high school. Because the educational attainment of teachers is so low, teachers must be trained almost from the ground up. That means everything from general subject content to teaching methods to evaluation to administration and management.