By Ray Stranske | Board Chair
New School Year
The new school year is set to begin in early May – the usual month for the second of three terms to begin, but the pandemic has disrupted school schedules and returning to normal is a slow process. As you can imagine, the past two years have been anything but easy for students going to school in Bor, South Sudan. In 2020 they contended with pandemic lockdown that closed schools for about 8 months (to say nothing of the devastating floods that lasted half the year). It would seem that this would result in the students losing a school year. Instead, students returned to school and made up the lost time by lengthening school terms and shortening vacation and holiday time. Now students are only 3 months behind their regular schedule and grade level. Perhaps by this time next year, they may be back on a normal school year schedule, which traditionally operates on a calendar year.
The great news is that 40 girls from last year’s PESS class of 80 students are set to graduate. The graduating seniors (called “candidates”) are cramming for the national exam that all 12th year students must pass to officially graduate. After taking exams, the students must wait about 6 months to get the results. Because of this wait time, it is hard to get a job or to start university classes. They are not considered graduates until they receive those results.
This wait-time provides a good opportunity for the girls to make up a critical area of education that most of them missed in high school – computer basics. Few of the schools have computers and even fewer have internet access. There are however one or two places in Bor where students can get this remedial education. We have been offering graduates a 5-month course at the local Vocational Training School that focuses heavily on computer literacy. This gives them the opportunity to prepare for much needed skills that most NGOs require for hiring workers. NGOs (non-governmental organizations or nonprofit organizations) provide one of the best places for young graduates to seek employment. Most universities also usually require some computer knowledge, so gaining these skills, post-graduation, has become an important part of the PESS plan to prepare students for leadership in their communities.
PESS is continuing to have success helping high school girls to remain in school until graduation and then to encourage them with their next step to prepare for leadership in their communities. The more that girls succeed in school and in their personal preparation for life, the more families are realizing what a great idea it is for girls to receive a basic education. That’s what we’re all about, here at PESS. Thanks for helping us to empower these bright young girls who want nothing more than to be the best they can be.
By Ray Stranske | Board Chair
By Ray Stranske | Board Chair
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