South Sudan

  • Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan
  • From: 01/01/2025 to: 31/12/2025
  • Published: 16/12/2024
  • Coordinated by: OCHA

Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan South Sudan 2025 / Part 3: Cluster needs and response

3.3 Education

People in need
2.1 million
People targeted
674 thousand
Requirements (US$)
$40.4 million

Summary of needs:

In 2025, 2.1 million children (returnees, IDPs and resident communities), including 212,000 children with disabilities, will need education services. The 2024 ISNA indicates that 64 per cent of children in need do not have access to education. The Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MOGEI)’s 2023 Annual Education Census (AEC) classified 17 per cent of schools as non-operational, with 39 per cent due to conflict. Access to education for children with disabilities is limited with barriers related to gender, especially during conflicts and other emergencies. Access to school is further jeopardized by the impact of climate conditions such as flooding. Education Cluster data indicates the closure of 422 schools due to floods. Protection concerns in or on the way to school continue to compromise children’s access to education. The AEC indicates that 2,187 learners dropped out of school in 2023 due to insecurity. According to the 2023 Education Needs Assessment (ENA), focus group discussions with girls indicated that 34.2 per cent feared sexual assaults while on the way to school. Many schools lack WASH facilities, with 17 per cent without water facilities in or around the school according to the ENA.

Response strategy

The Education Cluster Strategy aims to provide immediate access to safe, protective and inclusive education to returnees, IDPs and resident communities. The cluster will strengthen multisectoral synergies while leveraging the capacity and views of local actors to implement context-specific and need-based responses. Cluster partners will be guided by MOGEI and Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies standards to improve access. Learning spaces will be established and quality learning will be enhanced through teacher capacities and provision of teaching and learning materials, including for learners with disabilities. Protective learning environments and addressing school-related GBV will be strengthened through access to MHPSS for teachers and learners and linkages to referral pathways. The cluster will promote gender-responsive education, including addressing barriers that prevent girls from attending and completing school.

Poetry and drama club students read poems about the ending of GBV and child marriage at Saint Andreas High School.

Bor South County, Jonglei State, South Sudan

Students of poetry and drama club read poems about the ending of GBV and child marriage at Saint Andreas High School.

OCHA/Alioune Ndiaye

Targeting and prioritization

The cluster will target the most vulnerable children with disabilities, returnees, IDPs and resident communities. The needs of the affected people were the main driver in determining the targets. Other considerations included inter-sectoral needs, partner capacities, financial outlook and projections for 2025. Teachers are also targeted as their conditions affect children’s access to learning.

Promoting accountable and inclusive programming

The Education Cluster is committed to implement quality, equitable and inclusive Education in Emergency (EiE) responses. This will be operationalized by ensuring the centrality of protection, accountability to children, disability and gender inclusion. School-aged children were consulted to inform the EiE response, programme design and implementation.

The detailed cluster strategy can be found online https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/south-sudan-education-cluster-strategy-2023-2025