Contribute to Upskill 500 Teachers in Juba in 2025

On the 13, 17 and 18 of September 2025, we conducted three one-day workshops at Apex Junior School in Hai Baraka, Buluk A “1” Pre- and Primary School in Hai Buluk and Holyland Academy Nursery and Primary School in Nyakuron. All the workshops were requested by the administrators of the respective schools and approved by the Program Manager at the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan.

All three workshops drew participation of a cumulative total of forty-two (42) administrators and teachers in all three schools, sixteen (16) of whom were female, while the rest were male. Using the ‘learn by doing’ model, every participant actively engaged through question-and-answer sessions, group work and presentations, and quizzes to achieve maximum content retention and knowledge gains.

"This teacher’s workshop was incredibly beneficial and informative in all aspects of teaching and education. It brought about positive changes for both teachers and administrators," remarked the Headteacher of Holyland Academy Nursery and Primary School. 

The workshops achieved several key milestones:

• Forty-two (42) teachers actively participated in all three workshops, gaining valuable knowledge and skills on the South Sudan Teachers’ Code of Conduct 2012, development of Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) Scheme of Work and Lesson Plans, mental health and psychological well-being for educators, and classroom management strategies.
• While we have previously engaged with both Apex Junior School and Holyland Academy Nursery and Primary School, a new partnership was established between EFSS and Buluk A “1” Pre- and Primary School through this inaugural engagement – making them the second government-aided school to work with us.
• All the staff with WhatsApp accounts were introduced to the EFSS Teacher Network WhatsApp group, an educator’s platform for sharing resources, opportunities, and ideas.

During the workshop, a few challenges were encountered:

• Some participants struggled to keep up with the facilitators due to their preference for projected screens or printed notes. However, they were able to grasp key concepts through discussions, experience-sharing sessions, and follow-up questions.
• A language barrier also arose, as two Arabic-speaking teachers, who taught Arabic, had difficulty understanding the workshop mainly conducted in English, impacting their full participation.
• These challenges were managed through interactive learning methods and a bit of translation, ensuring the workshop's goals were met.

Recommendations and Way Forward

• Ongoing discussions, pair work, individual exercises, and experience-sharing sessions will foster peer learning and provide more opportunities for participants to engage actively.
• To address the language barrier, we will plan for translated materials and provide additional support for the Arabic-speaking teachers, ensuring they can fully participate and benefit from the workshop.

Links:

• Statement on the Occasion of World Teachers' Day - 5 October

• Project activity narrative report (PDF)
  

These in-service teachers' skill boost workshops in Juba were facilitated based on needs assessment and formal requests from beneficiary schools spread across Luri, Rejaf, and Munuki Payams of Juba County in Central Equatoria State. Through the Program and Communications Manager of the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan, the schools discuss and agree on a suitable date for each workshop to ensure the availability of all teaching staff.

Between January and March 2025, we conducted a mix of fourteen 1 -3 day workshops reaching two hundred ninety (295) teaching staff, including administrators, one hundred sixty-nine (169) of whom were male, while seventy-six (76) were female. These participants were from both nursery, primary and secondary school sections. The primary goal of these full-day workshops, which ran from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, was to enhance the skills of the teachers, equipping them with effective strategies to improve learning outcomes in their classrooms.

All fourteen workshops were facilitated by more than ten (10) expert facilitators internally from within the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan (EFSS) staff, board, and others sourced externally from our professional network.

The major topics discussed during the engagement included:

• The South Sudan Teachers’ Code of Conduct 2012.
• Developing the CBC Scheme of Work and Lesson Plan.
• Counselling and Guidance for Educators.
• Mental Health and Psychological Well-being
• Classroom Management Strategies.
• Administrative-Teacher-Parent Relationships
• Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) in Education

The objectives of each workshop were to:

• Help teachers understand and implement the South Sudan teachers’ code of conduct 2012.
• Assist teachers in receiving proper guidance on counselling so that they are better equipped to identify signs of mental health issues in learners.
• Promote child safeguarding mechanisms in schools.
• Assist participants on how to prepare schemes of work and lesson plans.
• Promote good classroom management strategies.

The workshops employed a mix of instructional methods by the facilitators, participant-led discussions, group exercises, individual exercises, illustrations, quizzes and brain teasers to ensure that every teacher gained maximum knowledge and skills. The participants were given chances to ask questions for clarity, share their experiences and give feedback to the facilitators at the end of each session. Experienced teachers were allowed to give their inputs based on their teaching career journeys.  

The workshop used flipcharts pinned on the board using masking tape to illustrate key points using markers, while participants had notebooks, rulers and pens provided by their school administrators to record down important points. 

A fifteen-minute morning health break and a one-hour lunch break were given to all the participants for refreshments and to reflect on the workshop content.

Links:

• Smooth Star Academy: Nursery, Primary and Secondary Workshop
• Alekma Academy + Starlite Schools Workshop Photos
• Diplomatic Nursery and Primary School Teachers' Workshop Report

• Baraka Central School Administrators Workshop (PDF)
  
• New Africa International School Workshop Report (PDF)