By Charles K Mark
Ministry of General Education has announced another Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) cash transfer window to commence on Monday.
Minister Awut Deng Acuil said the direct cash transfers will only be remitted to beneficiaries, enrolled in schools and regularly attending classes from primary five to senior four.
“Girls enrolled in the GESS Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) in levels three and four will also be eligible to receive cash transfers this year,” Minister Awut revealed.
The primary objective of the 2023 cash transfer is to support and empower girls across South Sudan to access and successfully complete their education by lifting the financial burden on parents and learners.
The general education minister stressed that approximately 425,000 schoolgirls will benefit from the cash transfer across South Sudan.
“Girls in the candidate classes, primary eight and senior four, will receive 32,000 South Sudan pounds,” Awut said, adding that “primary five, six, seven, and senior one, two, and three will receive South Sudan pound 25,600.”
She emphasized that girls approved to receive payment should get the full amount of their cash transfer without any deduction.
“We strongly condemn any attempt by teachers, officials, police, or any other individual to withhold or misuse funds intended for the girls,” the minister warned.
Mrs. Awut reiterated that strict measures will be taken to respond appropriately to address any instances of misappropriation or misuse of this fund.
“Real-time reporting will be conducted to the Central Team, enabling independent monitoring of all payment allocations,” she continued.
Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) gets funding from the UK Government, the Government of Canada through Global Affairs,
It is also funded by the European Union (EU), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The GESS team leader, Ms. Akuja Mading De Mabior, said the primary procedure for eligibility for any girl to receive the cash is enrollment.
“So that process is very much a manual process at the moment in the country, so all of the names have to be entered into a system,” Akuja explained.
She stated that it usually takes the whole first term before the team embarks on a process of validation in schools to avoid paying ghost learners.
“We’re trying very hard together with the ministry to improve that process. And we know that over the next few years, we’ll continue to do better,” GESS”s team leader said.
The education ministry and GESS revealed that they have discovered that many girls come to class and, when asked about what they learned in class, only say names but not what they learned.
“So we want to make sure that the students who are benefiting from these resources are students in the class,” Minister Awut emphasized.
Girls’ Education South Sudan cash transfers are direct payments given to girls who are regularly attending school in different classes, mainly in the primary and secondary sections.
It aims to address the high rate of school dropouts among girls, particularly those transitioning from primary to secondary school.