South Sudan
Creating a girls’ residential school in the County of Ibba, South Sudan A once in a generation opportunity to make a practical difference to the education and life chances of girls in South Sudan, the majority of whom get no schooling beyond the age of 10
sudan
ethiopia
central african republic
Ibba
Western Equatoria STATE
Juba
Yambio Central Equatoria STATE
democratic republic of the congo
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kenya
uganda
Our Aim To build and develop a girls residential school in the County of Ibba in South Sudan, to provide high quality education for girls aged 10-18 years and to empower young women with the values, knowledge and skills for leadership in their local communities, and in this newest African nation.
Post-Conflict Reconstruction • South Sudan ( a mainly African and Christian country) has just emerged from over 25 years of civil war with North Sudan (a mainly Arabic Muslim country). • South Sudan became an independent nation on July 9 2011 • It has a population of 9 -10 million, and is one of the poorest countries in the world. • 60-75% of the population is living on less than 1 US dollar per day • Only 27% of the population has access to clean drinking water; 15% to safe sanitation. • Public health and medical services are very basic or non-existent. • Life expectancy is 49 years for men and 51 years for women.
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• Maternal mortality is the highest in the world. Infant mortality is very high. Only 5% of births are attended by trained midwives.
Schooling In South Sudan • Because of the long civil war, the education of a complete generation of South Sudanese people has been disrupted. • Over 92% of adult women and 80% of men are illiterate. • 4 out of 5 children currently do not go to school at all. • Less than 2% of pupils complete primary education. • Most girls drop out around 10 years old, because of domestic and childcare duties, and/or early pregnancy. • Only 6% of teachers are trained. Only 1 in 6 of the schools has permanent classrooms; many are in the open air with no roof, no desks, no books. • The churches have been the main civil society organisations trusted by the grassroots communities throughout the civil war, and are crucial in the provision of high quality education.
Less than 2% of pupils complete primary education The Vision & Values • Ibba Girls School aims to provide high quality education rooted in Christian values, and open to people of all faiths and none. • The school will focus on girls because few get the chance of education beyond primary level. • The school will be residential, to make it possible for girls from a wide catchment area to attend, and to study safely, shielded from competing demands for attention. • Ibba Girls School will prepare children with the values, knowledge and skills to allow them to move on to further and higher education and satisfying work. • To contribute as transformed and empowered women, to the development of their communities, and to the leadership of this new nation.
Combining Access with Excellence • Our aim is to develop a school which will provide access to all, whatever their background, status or finances. • Ibba Girls School will be a model of excellence for the quality of education it offers, training to high standards a generation of women leaders for South Sudan. • The school will serve the needs not only of Ibba village and Ibba county, but also Western Equatoria State as well. • The school will take girls from 10 years old, because this is the age at which they tend to drop out from schooling, through till 18 years old. • The plan is to build up steadily from an initial intake of 2 classes of 40 primary girls, to a total of 640 girls, in 16 classrooms of 40 pupils each – providing a series of 8 stepping stones from Primary 4 (about 10 years old) right through Secondary and up to University entrance level (about 18 years old).
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Sustainable High Quality Schooling A “Green” School • 73 acres of forest land has been donated by Bridget Nagomoro and by a village elder Severio. • The land is rich in mango, banana, date palm, millet, ground nuts, rice and maize. • The villages currently have no safe drinking water, electricity or sanitation. • So the school is being designed on green and sustainable principles – using local materials and natural energy sources as far as possible. • Hydraform clay bricks; rainwater harvesting; water bore holes; waste recycling; anaerobic bio-digestors; solar electricity are all being used.
Educational Strategy • The educational strategy is to combine excellence with accessibility. To offer places to all girls whatever their background or status, with a commitment to achieving the highest possible educational standards, values, capabilities and skills, both for life and for work. • Early recruitment of an outstanding African woman headteacher and class teachers during
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2012, ready for the first pupils to start in February 2013. • A pro-active process of outreach to potential pupils, by visits to the villages, and recruitment through face to face discussions with the parents and children. • No child will be prevented from coming to this school because of lack of income. Bursaries will be made available.
Our architect inspects the school site with the steering committee
A 2-Pronged Strategy 1. To rapidly uplift the quality and performance of the feeder primary schools in the surrounding area by providing additional teachers, training and books; and also to support the existing literacy and adult education classes. We have already funded 4 additional teachers in the feeder schools. 2. To develop the new girls boarding school in Ibba in incremental stages, starting with the first two cohorts (2 x 40) of Primary 4 girls (roughly 10 years old) in Feb 2013, and gradually building up to the full 640 pupils by Feb 2020, by recruiting additional cohorts of 80 ten year old girls each year for the next 8 years.
Girls of Ibba village
Hydraform clay bricks
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Community Development, Skills & Jobs • The school will prepare its pupils and the local community not only for higher education but also for useful jobs in the new nation (e.g. agriculture; forestry; manufacturing; IS/IT). • The building of the school will provide opportunities for local labour and for skill training (e.g. in brick-making and farming). • The school will be linked to a market garden, a small farm, and to other local economic development projects (e.g. fruit & vegetables; honey; teak wood cooperatives) to generate income for both the school and the village.
Partnership with Government • Active support for this project has been offered by the Republic of South Sudan (ROSS) and Western Equatoria State – e.g. paying for teachers’ salaries; school books. • The school will be developed within the framework of ROSS policy and the national curriculum. • Support is also being requested from the UK Government, the Department for International Development (DfID) and major donor agencies.
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Risk Analysis & Assurance • In any overseas development project of this kind there are risks to be analysed, mitigated and managed. • The risk of civil war breaking out again – this risk is largely confined to the northern border region (Abyei, South Kordofan and the Nuba mountains) where oil fields are in dispute, and where there are still attacks from the North. This is tragic for those that live there, but it is as far away from Ibba as the Northern Ireland conflict is from Cornwall. • The risk of corruption and financial mis-management – we have established very tight procedures to ensure that money donated goes straight to the Ibba project in 3 direct and transparent stagesfrom Eric Shepley, our Hon Treasurer in the UK, to Bishop
The school will be linked to local projects to generate income
Wilson Kamani, our Hon Treasurer in Ibba, to the staff we employ in Ibba to build and staff the school. See the full proposal for the detailed lines of accountability. • We will account regularly and in detail to all donors.
Governance • Ibba Girls School has the active support of the local community, including the village elders, tribal chiefs, the churches (RC and Episcopal) and the government (at county, state and national levels). • A Steering Committee has been established chaired by the Commissioner of Ibba County, Bridget Nagomoro; and including the Episcopal Bishop of Ibba, Wilson Kamani, the RC Priest, Fr Stephen Kumyangi; the local paramount chief; and Professor John Benington. • A Board of School Governors is being formed to take over from the Steering Committee, prior to the School opening in Feb 2013. • A Charitable Trust has been established in the UK to guard the vision, the land and the funding for the school.
Governance and Project Management
Steering Committee for Ibba Girls School • Bridget Nagomoro (Chair), Bishop Wilson Kamani, Father Stephen Kumyangi, The Paramount Chief for Ibba; John Benington (representing the funders). • Building Design and Architect: Malcolm Worby, Sustainable Building and Renewable Energy, South Africa. • Building Project Manager and Contractor: Anisa Construction, Yambio. • Education Advisers: Rev Pauline Walker, and the Education Teams of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, the Roman Catholic Church and the Government.
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Funding the project Governance in the UK • Friends of Ibba Girls School is registered as a UK charity (no. 1146220) and company limited by guarantee, with its own account at the Co-operative Bank. • A distinguished body of Trustees has been formed (see back page). • The Trustees have a number of specialist advisers, who offer their services pro bono – 100% of funds raised go to the Ibba Girls School.
Fund Raising Strategy • The Ibba community has donated 73 acres of land for the school, and will contribute labour for the building work. The Government will pay the basic salaries for the teachers. Parents will contribute to the school fees and will form a Parent Teachers Association to support the school. • Friends of Ibba Girls School will raise the capital funding to build and equip the school, plus dormitories, toilets, water bore
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holes, electricity generation, kitchen, library, furniture, equipment, computing. (More detail in the full proposal.) • We also want to raise a regular revenue stream for at least 10 years to support the regular running costs of the school, including top up salaries for the teachers, scholarships and bursaries. • Grant applications are being made to Trusts, Foundations, governments and churches. We are also mobilising a wide network of individuals and organisations to support the long-term development of the school and the village.
Our Target • We need to raise at least £900,000 to get the first phase of the school built and the head-teacher and core staff recruited, in time for the first intake of 10 year olds in Feb 2013. • The costs are heavily frontloaded because of the need to put in basic infrastructure before the first batch of pupils
arrive (e.g. 3 water bore-holes; solar electricity; sanitation; classrooms; dormitories; staff housing).
Examples of Costings • 3 solar-assisted water bore holes costing £17,750 each. • A block of 4 classrooms costs £160,000. • A dormitory block with showers, toilets and laundry facilities costs £120,000. • A senior teacher will cost about £5,000 per year. We need a headteacher and six class teachers from the outset.
Progress To Date 73 acres of rich equatorial forest land has been donated in Ibba; an architect has been appointed; initial site development plan prepared; 5 building contractors briefed and invited to submit tenders; Anisa Construction of Yambio appointed. Over £150k funding has been raised in the UK. February 2012 We plan to start the first stage of building with three water bore holes; four classrooms and dormitories; sanitation; kitchens; housing for teachers.
£900,000 Target for Phase 1
£160,000 Block of 4 classrooms
£120,000 Dormitory block with facilities
£17,750 Solar-assisted water bore hole
£5,000 A senior teacher (per year)
How to Contribute
How to Get Involved
• This is a once in a life time opportunity to make a significant difference to the schooling and life chances of girls in South Sudan. • Please help both with “lump sum” donations for the building of the school and also regular standing order donations for its staffing and running costs. • Please make cheques and standing orders payable to Friends of Ibba Girls School. • Please enclose a signed letter (with your full name address and postcode) asking for your donation to be Gift Aided, so that we can recover tax (charity no. 1146220). • Please send this to our Hon Treasurer, Eric Shepley, at Ashlar, Icomb, Near Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire, GL54 1JE. E-mail: ericshepley555@ btinternet.com. We will send you progress reports. • Our Co-operative Bank account is Friends of Ibba Girls School South Sudan Sort code: 08 92 99 Account Number: 65525782
• A visit to the UK by the Ibba Steering Committee was made in the first two weeks of October 2011. Meetings with donors and supporters took place in London, the Cotswolds, Coventry, and Nottingham. • Let us know if you would like to get involved, as an individual or an organisation. • Let J.Benington@warwick.ac.uk know if you would like to offer voluntary help, skills and time.
Bridget Nagomoro with village children
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Every journey has a beginning‌
Waiting for a chance
Surely they deserve better schooling than this?
Daily life in Ibba village
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South Sudan
Empowering Women Teach a man to read; you educate him for a lifetime. Teach a woman to read, and she’ll inspire her children, her friends and neighbours, start a small co-operative business, and soon the whole village is buzzing. Women are key to fighting poverty and to raising educational and living standards. (Oxfam)
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Registered Charity No. 1146220 77 Styvechale Avenue, Coventry, West Midlands CV5 6DW www.ibbaschool.org.uk
Trustees • Emeritus Professor John Benington (Hon Chair) • Eric Shepley (Hon Treasurer) • Lord Michael Bichard • Dame Yve Buckland • Professor Jean Hartley • Baroness Estelle Morris • Hugh Paget • Rev Michael Paget-Wilkes
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