By James Innocent
Yei River county has launched construction of three new classroom blocks at Yei Day Senior Secondary School.
Yei Day is one of the few functioning government secondary schools in town.
County Commissioner, Emmanuel Taban Seme, expressed profound gratitude to UNMISS for their generous support in funding the construction of these essential classrooms.
He emphasized the growing population in Yei, particularly due to the return of many refugees from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which creates an urgent need for additional classroom space to accommodate the rising number of students eager to learn.
Commissioner Seme highlighted the historical significance of Yei Day Senior Secondary School, noting that it is one of the oldest educational institutions in South Sudan, having produced numerous influential leaders over the years.
However, he also acknowledged the severe challenges that Yei County has faced regarding education due to ongoing conflicts.
In his remarks, Seme commended teachers for their unwavering dedication to ensuring that young individuals receive a quality education.
He urged both international and national organizations to expand their efforts in developing additional educational facilities, noting the increasing number of children in need of schooling.
“As a son of this soil,” he said “if you can construct schools and market in some of the states why not Yei, am very pleased to see that we are now earning a new block that will accommodate a good number of students though it does not cover a good number of students and it’s in the right time during dry season which will not affect the construction and we as government we are planning to construct more secondary schools in Yei River County,” he added.
General Dinesh Singh, a UNMISS official, praised the collaboration between the county government and UNMISS in executing this project.
He emphasized the benefits it would bring to the learners in Yei and recognized the hard work of both teachers and UNMISS personnel who ensured the successful launch of the new classroom blocks at Yei Day Senior Secondary School.
Yeka Levi, representing SPEDP, expressed gratitude to UNMISS for their pivotal role in the construction of the three classrooms and three latrines.
He underlined SPEDP’s mandate to support peace and development initiatives in South Sudan and noted the organization’s track record in implementing various development projects successfully.
“Today we are very happy to see the presence of the government and UNMISS to witness the construction of the three blocks of classrooms at Yei Day Senior Secondary school just because we had a lot of projects that we have been implementing in south Sudan, especially development projects and Yei happened to be one of the luckiest among all, SPEDP is one of the national Ngo registered since 2007 in South Sudan,” he mentioned.
Philip Taban, a representative of the County Education Department, pointed out that Yei currently has eleven secondary schools, yet only two of them are government-funded.
He conveyed his appreciation for the support provided by UNMISS, highlighting the critical importance of partnership in enhancing educational infrastructure in the county.
Representatives from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the implementing organization Support for Peace Education Development Program (SPEDP), attended the function,
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