150501 SS002 SS KER GESS County Payam Report 2014 F · Girls' Education South Sudan School Baseline County Payam Survey Final Draft Report | September 2014 ii The following individuals

Girls' Education South Sudan School Baseline County Payam Survey Final Draft Report | September 2014

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Acknowledgements ForcierConsultingthanksourcolleaguesworkingonGESSfromtheMinistryofEducation,ScienceandTechnology,CharlieGoldsmithAssociates,andBMBMottMacdonaldfortheircooperationandsupportofthisCountyPayamBaselineSurvey.Inparticular,wewouldliketorecogniseCharlieGoldsmith,TinaMacLellan,ImkevanderHoning,andEmmavanderMeulen.Field research would not have been possible without the assistance of State Anchors and theirrespectiveorganisations:StrommeFoundationCaritasCHBRACUMCORADRAWindleTrustFHSSHARD

NatalieForcierCEOForcierConsultingSeptember2014


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ThefollowingindividualscontributedtotheanalysisundertakenfortheGESSCountyPayamReport:NatalieForcier,CEOEvanS.Callis,DirectorofAnalyticsJaneSail,Analyst Legal Notice and Disclaimer

Forcier Consulting, 2014. This document is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivs Licence (international): http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-sa/3.0 This report is not a legally binding document. It is a collaborative informational and assessment document and does not necessarily reflect the views of any of the contributing partners in all of its contents. Any errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.


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Table of Contents ListofTables.................................................................................................................................................v

ListofFigures...............................................................................................................................................v

Acronyms...................................................................................................................................................viii

ExecutiveSummary......................................................................................................................................9

1 Introduction&Background................................................................................................................15

1.1 BackgroundonSouthSudan......................................................................................................15

1.2 EducationinSouthSudan...........................................................................................................16

1.3 BackgroundonGirls'EducationSouthSudan............................................................................17

1.4 BackgroundontheKnowledge,EvidenceandResearchComponent........................................18

2 PurposeofSurvey&Methodology....................................................................................................19

2.1 OverallGESSResearchObjectives..............................................................................................19

3 PurposeofCountyPayamSurvey&Methodology............................................................................20

3.1 AimofSurvey.............................................................................................................................20

3.2 SurveyObjectives.......................................................................................................................20

3.3 SurveyIndicators........................................................................................................................20

3.4 Methodology..............................................................................................................................22

3.4.1 SamplingStrategy...............................................................................................................22

3.4.2 QuantitativeDataCollection..............................................................................................22

3.4.3 QuantitativeSurveys..........................................................................................................23

3.5 Limitations..................................................................................................................................29

4 Findings..............................................................................................................................................31

4.1 CharacteristicsandBackgroundofCountyandPayamOfficials................................................31

4.1.1 Qualifications,Skills,andTraining......................................................................................32

4.1.2 EducationSectorExperience..............................................................................................36

4.2 AdministrativeandFinancialSystems........................................................................................37

4.2.1 Personnel............................................................................................................................37

4.2.2 OfficeEquipment................................................................................................................37

4.2.3 FinancialOrganisation........................................................................................................39

4.3 ProceduresinPlacefortheInspectionandSupervisionofSchools...........................................41

4.3.1 TypesofSchools.................................................................................................................41

4.3.2 AccessingSchools...............................................................................................................42

4.3.3 DutiesduringSchoolVisits.................................................................................................45

4.3.4 InvolvementwithSchools..................................................................................................47


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4.4 NationalandStatePolicies,Plans,andStrategiesinPlace........................................................50

4.4.1 PolicyDocuments...............................................................................................................50

4.5 CommunicationbetweenCountyandPayamOffices................................................................54

4.6 ChallengesandEnablingFactorsfortheDeliveryofandAccesstoQualityEducation..............56

4.6.1 MeanstoImproveTeachingQuality..................................................................................56

4.6.2 ProtectiveStructuresforChildren......................................................................................57

4.6.3 SupportforSchoolManagement.......................................................................................59

4.6.4 FinancialMatterSupportAvailabletoSchools...................................................................60

5 Conclusions........................................................................................................................................62

6 Appendix............................................................................................................................................64

6.1 QuantitativeCountySurvey.......................................................................................................64

6.2 QuantitativePayamSurvey........................................................................................................67


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List of Tables Table1:StateAnchorandPartnerOrganisationsbyState........................................................................22

Table2:ObservationscollectedinCentralEquatoriabyCountySurveyandPayamSurvey,(SouthSudan,

September2014)........................................................................................................................................23

Table 3:Number ofObservations Collected in Eastern Equatoria by County andPayamSurvey (South

Sudan,September2014)............................................................................................................................24

Table 4: Number of Observations Collected in Lakes, by County and Payam Survey (South Sudan,

September2014)........................................................................................................................................25

Table 5:NumberofObservations Collected inNorthernBahr elGhazal, by County andPayamSurvey

(SouthSudan,September2014)................................................................................................................26

Table 6: Number of Observations collected in Warrap, by County and Payam Survey (South Sudan,

September2014)........................................................................................................................................27

Table7:NumberofObservationscollected inWesternEquatoria,byCountyandPayamSurvey(South

Sudan,September2014)............................................................................................................................28

Table 8: Number of Observations collected inWestern Bahr el Ghazal, by County and Payam Survey

(SouthSudan,September2014)................................................................................................................29

Table9:TotalNumberofObservationscollectedinJonglei,Unity,andUpperNilebyCountyandPayam

Survey(SouthSudan,September2014).....................................................................................................29

List of Figures Figure1:ComparisonofTypesofContractheldbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)..........................................................................................................................................................31

Figure 3: Mother tongue languages of Payam and County Officials, by Language (South Sudan,September2014)........................................................................................................................................32

Figure4:OtherLanguagesSpokenbyPayamandCountyOfficials,byLanguage(SouthSudan,September2014)..........................................................................................................................................................32

Figure5:Self-ReportedAbilityofPayamandCountyOfficials inReadingandWritinginArabic,English,andSwahili,byLevelofAbility(SouthSudan,September2014)...............................................................33

Figure 6: Qualifications Gained by County and Payam Officials, by Level of Education (South Sudan,September2014)........................................................................................................................................34

Figure7:Self-ReportedAbilityinComputerUsage(SouthSudan,September2014)................................34

Figure8:Self-reportedAbilityinMobilePhoneUsage(SouthSudan,September2014)..........................35


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Figure 9: Level of School that County Officials had taught whilst a Teacher, as reported by CountyOfficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014).........................................................................................36

Figure 10: Proportional Comparison of the Facilities and Equipment available in County and PayamOffices,asreportedbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)..............................38

Figure 11: Proportion of County Offices with a Bank Account, as reported by County Officials (SouthSudan,September2014)............................................................................................................................40

Figure12:AveragenumberofPrimaryandSecondarySchoolsperCountybySchoolType,asreportedbyCountyOfficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014)............................................................................41

Figure13:AverageNumberofPrimaryandSecondarySchoolsperPayambySchoolType,asreportedbyPayamOfficials,n=276(SouthSudan,September2014)..........................................................................42

Figure 14: Average Number of Times Payam Officials Visited Schools in 2013, as reported by PayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)...................................................................................................43

Figure15:MeansofTransportusedbyCountyOfficialstovisitSchools,asreportedbyCountyofficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September,2014)......................................................................................................44

Figure16:MeansofTransportusedbyPayamOfficialstovisitSchools,asreportedbyPayamOfficials,n=276(SouthSudan,September2014).....................................................................................................44

Figure17:DutiesofCountyandPayamOfficialsduringSchoolInspectionsandSchoolSupervisionVisitsasreportedbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)...........................................45

Figure18:TypesofFeedbackCountyandPayamOfficialsprovidetoSchoolsafterInspection...............46

Figure19:ProportionofCountyOfficialsinvolvedinOrganisingorConductingProfessionalDevelopmentTraining,byTrainingRecipient,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014).....................................................47

Figure 20: Administrative Records that Payam Offices Require from Schools, as reported by PayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................................................48

Figure 21: Proportion of Payam offices that keep SDPs, as reported by PayamOfficials n=276 (SouthSudan,September2014)............................................................................................................................49

Figure22:ProportionofCountyofficialswhohaveSpecificDocumentstoGuidetheirWork,asreportedbyCountyOfficialsn=64(SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................................50

Figure23:ProportionofCountyOfficialswhoreportedhavingaSchoolPolicyDocumentcomparedtotheProportionofCountyOfficialswhowereabletopresentthem,asreportedbyCountyOfficialsn=64(SouthSudan,September2014)................................................................................................................51

Figure 24: Proportion of Payam officialswho have the Following Documents to Guide theirWork, asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................52

Figure 25: Proportion of PayamOfficialswho claimed to have the followingDocuments compared toProportions who were able to Produce them to Researchers, as reported by Payam Officials n=276(SouthSudan,September2014)................................................................................................................53

Figure26:ProportionofPayamOfficialswhoreportedreceivingAdvanceNotice fromCountyOfficialsbefore a County or State Inspection, as reported by PayamOfficials n=276 (South Sudan, September2014)..........................................................................................................................................................54

Figure27:TypesofreportsPayamOfficialsarerequiredtosendtoCountyEducationDepartments,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................55


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Figure 28:Means of Teachers getting help to improve the Quality of their Teaching, as reported byPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)............................................................................56

Figure 29: Most Likely Consequences of Inappropriate Relations between Teacher and Learner, asreportedbyPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)...................................................................58

Figure30:ResponsibilitiesofSMC,PTA,andBOGas reportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276 (SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................................................................................................60

Figure 31: School financial records approved of by Payam Education Offices, as reported by PayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)........................................................................................60


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Acronyms ADRA AdventistDevelopmentandReliefAgencyBOG BoardofGovernorsBRAC BangladeshRuralAdvancementCommitteeCGA CharlieGoldsmithAssociatesCPA ComprehensivePeaceAgreementCSCW CentrefortheStudyofCivilWarDFID DepartmentforInternationalDevelopmentEfC EducationforChangeEMIS EducationManagementInformationSystemFGD FocusGroupDiscussionFHSS FoodforHungerSouthSudanGESP GeneralEducationStrategicPlanGESS Girls’EducationinSouthSudanGONU GovernmentofNationalUnityGOSS GovernmentofSouthSudanGRSS GovernmentoftheRepublicofSouthSudanICC Intra-classCorrelationCoefficientIOM InternationalOrganizationforMigrationKER Knowledge,Evidence,andResearchMoEST MinistryofEducation,ScienceandTechnologyNGO Non-GovernmentalOrganisationOCHA OfficefortheCoordinationofHumanitarianAffairsPEO PayamEducationOfficerPTA ParentTeacherAssociationPRIO PeaceResearchInstituteOsloSA StateAnchorSACMEQ SouthernandEasternAfricaConsortiumforMonitoringEducationalQualitySDP SchoolDevelopmentPlanSMC SchoolManagementCommitteeSPLM/A SudanPeople’sLiberationMovement/ArmySSNLA SouthSudanNationalLegislativeAssemblySSSAMS SouthSudanSchoolAttendanceMonitoringSystemUMCOR UnitedMethodistCommitteeonReliefUNMISS UnitedNationsMissioninSouthSudanWTI WindleTrustInternational


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Executive Summary SouthSudanfaceshugechallengesindevelopingitsloweducationalbase-adirectresultofdecadesofcivilwarandinstability.ThisreportispartoftheGirls’EducationSouthSudan(GESS)programme,which aims to transform a generation of South Sudanese girls by increasing access to qualityeducation. The Knowledge, Evidence and Research (KER) component of the programme aims togenerateknowledgeaboutwhatworksineducation,programmaticcausalityandimpact.Oneofthestrategic objectives of theMinistry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) is to eliminatebarriers to girls’ education and promote gender equality throughout the education system. ThepurposeofCountyandPayamsurveysistogatherinformationregardingthemanagementstructureand capacities of Education Offices and County Education Departments. esearch for the overallprogramme will take place in three phases: baseline (2014), mid-term (2015-16), and end-term(2017-18).ThereportwillpresentthefindingsofCountyandPayamsurveysthroughthefollowingsections:

• Section 3.1 outlines the characteristics and background of officials surveyed including anoverview of their qualifications, skills, and training as well as their education sectorexperience;

• Section3.2providesdetailsabouttheAdministrativeandFinancialsystemsrecordedtobeinplaceforCountyandPayamoffices,includinginformationonpersonnel,officeequipmentandfinancialorganisation;

• Section3.3assesses theprocedures inplace for the inspectionand supervisionof schoolsand provides insight into the levels of access officials have to schools under theirsupervisionsaswellasthedutiesinvolvedinundertakingschoolvisits;

• Section 3.4 discusses the types of policies and plans that are in place and available toofficials;

• Section3.5givesanoverviewof the levelsof communicationbetweenCountyandPayamoffices;

• Section3.6analysesthechallengesandenablingfactorssurroundingthedeliveryofqualityeducation and addresses the means available to improve teacher quality, the protectiveenvironmentforchildrenatschool,andmeansofsupportavailabletoschoolmanagement;

• Finally,Section3.7detailsthetypesoffinancialsupportavailabletoschools.Methodology: The original sampling strategy was developed by Education for Change, who also designed thequantitative tools. Quantitative surveyswere originallymeant to be conductedwith personnel inpayam and county education departments in the same payams and counties inwhich the SchoolSurveys (carriedout inAugust 2014)were conducted.However, itwas subsequently felt that thisstrategy would provide only a limited picture of the education structures in place and it wasthereforedecidedtobroadenthesampleframetoallCountyandPayamofficeswithineachState,irrespectiveofwhetheraSchoolSurveyhadbeenconductedthereornot.Initially all ten States were included in the sampling strategy; however, violence in South Sudanbrokeouton18December2013andspreadthroughoutthecountry,affectinginparticularJonglei,Unity, andUpperNile States. Fieldwork in these three statesproved toodangerousand severelyimpededaccessandsoweresubsequentlyremovedfromthesample.Therefore,thefinalstrategywastosampleallCountyandPayamofficesinCentralEquatoria,EasternEquatoria,Lakes,NorthernBahrelGhazal,Warrap,WesternBahrelGhazal,andWesternEquatoriaStates.Atotalofn=64Countysurveyswereconductedin47counties,andatotalofn=276Payamsurveyswereconductedin240payams.


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Key Findings: ResponsesfromCountyofficialsdemonstratedthattheygenerallyhadsomehighereducation,andhadhigherlevelsofeducation,skillsproficiency,andexperiencethanPayamofficials.The majority of County officials’ highest educational attainment was a Diploma inteaching/education or a Bachelor of Education (76.6%, n=49) compared to Payam officials, themajorityofwhosehighesteducationalattainmentwasaCertificateinteaching/education(64.9%,n=179). Computer literacy was not high among either Government official type compared tomobilephoneproficiency,inwhichbothCountyandPayamofficialsprofessedtohavehighability.Almostall respondentshadaprofessionalbackground inteachingbutCountyofficials invariablyreported longer periods of teaching andmore experience in senior roles such as head teacherthanPayamofficials.Educationofficesateitherleveldonotappeartobewellequipped,althoughCountyEducationofficialsreportedhavingmoreofficefacilitiesthanPayamofficials.Meansofcommunicationviatelephoneorinternetarestartlinglylimitedwithonlyaroundafifthofbothofficetypes(20.3%,n=13Countyand21.4%,n=59Payam)reportingtohavetelephones.Fewer Payam offices (8.7%, n=24) reportedly have computers, with extremely limited internetaccess–reportedlyonlyavailablein1.1%(n=3)ofPayamoffices;whilemoreCountyofficeswerereported to have computers (29.7%, n=19), their internet connectivity appears just as limited(1.6%, n=1). This is in striking contrast to the health sector, where most County HealthDepartments now have internet access, thanks to successive donor-funded projects, and co-locationofCountyPartnerNGOs.Themajorityofofficialsstatedthattheirofficedidnothaveabankaccount.Thiswas citedby (81.3%,n=52)ofCountyofficials and89.9% (n=248)of Payamofficials. Withhindsight, it would have been desirable also to have checked how many County EducationDepartments usedCountyAdministration’saccount,whichismeanttoactasa ‘singletreasury’forCounty.CountyofficialsreportfurtherdistancestocoverthanPayamofficialswhenvisitingschools,aswouldbeexpected,buthaveslightlybettermeansoftransport,withhalfusingofficialCountyvehicles,andthereforebetteraccesstomoreremoteschools.TheaveragedistanceofthefurthestschoolfromaCountyofficewasreportedtobe86.2kmawaycompared to27.7km fromPayamoffices. JustabouthalfofCounty survey respondents (50.1%,n=32) stated that they made school visits with an official County vehicle compared to 29.4%(n=52)ofPayamofficialswhowereabletouseofficialmeans.Proportionally more County officials reported undertaking inspection duties than Payamofficials, and checking financial records was the least well performed duty by both types ofgovernmentofficials.ThedutiesthatappeartobemoreheavilyundertakenbyPayamofficialswerecheckingtextbooknumbers,observinglessons,andspeakingtoheadteachers.Conversely,Countyofficialsappearedmoreresponsibleforinspectingfinancialrecords,schoolplans,testresults,andlearningmaterialsaswellasEMISdatacollection.Verbal feedback seems to be the most common form of communication between thegovernment officials and schools and almost all officials reported providing feedback afterschoolvisits.Proportionally,CountyofficialsfromCentralEquatoriaandEasternEquatoriaprovidedthelowestresponsesofwritten feedbackwhile Payamofficials fromCentral Equatoria,Western Equatoriaand Warrap appeared to provide the least amounts of written feedback to schools afterinspection.Payamofficials appear to have strong involvementwith schools but not all PayamEducationOfficeshavecomprehensivecopiesofschooldevelopmentplans(SDP).PayamofficialsfromLakesandWarrapreportedthebestpracticeinSDPrecordsandsupporttoschools, and those from Eastern Equatoria, the worst. When asked to present the school


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developmentplanskeptwithintheiroffice,46.4%(n=128)ofofficialswerenotabletodoso.Teachercodesofconduct,jobdescriptions,andtheGeneralEducationAct2013werereportedas themost prevalent types of policy documents available as guidance for County EducationOfficers. The least available documents to County officials appear to be those relating toteacherstandards,schoolguides,andschoolinspectionframeworks.OfficeswiththelowestproportionofresponsestohavingacopyofaschoolinspectionframeworkwerefromWarrapandWesternEquatoria.AswithPayamofficials,manyofficialsclaimingtohavespecificdocumentswereunabletoproducethemonrequest;itshouldhoweverbenotedthatthereasonsfornotshowingenumeratorsthedocumentswerenotexplainedandarenotnecessarilytheresultofdishonesty.There appear to be relatively high, if slightly inconsistent, levels of communication betweenCountyandPayamofficesprecedingaschoolinspection.Inmostcases(89.1%,n=57),CountyofficialsclaimedthattheyinformedPayamEducationOfficersinadvancewhenaninspectionwasduetotakeplaceinschoolsintheirareain2013while75.3%(n=208)ofPayamofficialsreportedreceivingsomekindofadvancewarningfromCountyofficials.Offices in Eastern Equatoria reported the lowest levels of advanced notice as noted by bothCountyandPayamofficials.ThemostcommonmeansofsupporttoteachersisthroughlessonobservationsfromarangeofactorssuchasPayamofficials,headteachers,otherteachersandSMCmembers.Therewaslittleevidenceofsupporttocombatteacherabsence.Prolongedteacherabsencesaremostlikelytobetreatedwithdisciplinarywarningsandmeetings;themostsevereconsequences,suchascontractterminationorfinancialpunishments,weremostlikelytobeimposedbyofficialsfromLakesorNorthernBahrelGhazalStates.Findingssuggestthatcasesofinappropriaterelationsbetweenteachersandstudentswouldbetakenseriouslybyschoolsandgovernmentofficials.Most responses indicate that action would be handled by external non-school actors such asgovernmentofficials, community leaders,or thepolice. Schools inNorthernBahrelGhazal andLakeswerereportedlymore likely to involveCommunity leaders thanthose inotherStatesandless likely to involve the police. The least severe consequences for teachers accused ofinappropriaterelationswithstudentswerealsorecordedasbeingfromLakesandNorthernBahrel Ghazal where higher proportions of officials claimed that teachers would be issued withwarnings or be temporarily suspended from school rather thanbeing banned from teaching orfired,aswasmorecommonlyreportedinotherStates.SchoolManagementCommitteesandParentTeacherAssociationswere found tobe farmoreprevalentthanBoardsofGovernors,whichcorrelatestofindingsfromtheGESSSchoolSurveyconductedinAugust2014.However, Payam education officials themselves did not report being overly involved in school-relatedcommitteeswith justundera third (30.15,n=83) reporting tobeamemberofanSMC,PTA,orBOGinanyoftheschoolsundertheirsupervision.Payam Education Offices appear to have mixed levels of involvement in school financialmanagement; there are indications that Payamofficials are not awareof their office’s dutiestowardtheschoolsundertheirsupervision.Theareainwhichofficialsappeartobemostactiveisinapprovingschoolfinancereports(48.6%,n=134).FewerPayamofficials (64.5% (n=178) reported theirofficeas responsible forapprovingschool accounts, although those fromNorthernBahrelGhazal appeared to take this rolemoreseriouslythanthosefromanyotherState.CountyandPayameducationofficialsarealmostallmale.There was an extremely unbalanced gender composition of respondents in both County andPayam surveys,with 96.9% (n=62) of Countymale to 3.1% (n=2) female respondents. Thiswasmirrored inPayamsurvey,whereby98.2% (n=271) respondentsweremaleandonly1.8% (n=5)werefemale.


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Payam officials report participating in more days of professional development training thanCountyofficials.Payamofficials reportedparticipating inanaverageof8.8daysof trainingundertaken.1Countyofficialsreportedparticipatinginanaveragenumberofdaysoftrainingreceivedis5.5..Overtwothirds (67.5%)ofCountyEducationOfficials report receivingappropriatedocumentsfromPayamEducationOfficesMostCountyEducationOfficials(67.2%,n=43)reportedreceivingSchoolMonitoringReportsonabiannualormorebasisfromPEOs,while17.2%(n=11)reportedreceivingthemonlyeverytwotofour years. The 4.7% (n=3) who reported to ‘Never’ receive such reports were from EasternEquatoria.All but one fifth (21.9%) of County officials reported that they had organized professionaldevelopmentactivitiesforschool.These professional development efforts are aimed at teachers, head teachers and schoolcommittee members. A slightly smaller proportion (65.6%) of County officials had providedtraining to Payam officials, with most such training happening in Western Bahr el Ghazal andLakes. Conclusions: Countyofficialsappearededucatedtohigher levels,hadheldhigher rankingpositionswithin theirteachingcareers,andhadhigherreportedlevelsofEnglishandcomputerproficiency.Communicationandcoordinationbetweenofficeswouldappeartobeconstrainedbylowlevelsoftelephone and internet access. This is clearly an area in which funding, either from the centralgovernmentorfrompartners,couldassist. Therewere strong indications that Government officialswere not fully aware of the context andsituationofnon-Governmentschoolswithintheiradministrativejurisdictionandthereappearedtobemanygapsinknowledgeoffaith-based,community,private,andotherschoolsintheirCountiesandPayams. Highproportionsofallofficialsreportedhavingtousepersonalorpublicmeansoftransporttovisitschools as official vehicles were not available. Overall, distance and shortage of transportmeansshouldbeconsideredaconstraintinofficialsbeingabletoaccessschools.Again,thisisarelativelystraightforwardareainwhichfundingcouldassist.BothCountyandPayamofficialsdemonstratedweaknesses in collectingEMISdataand inspectingschoolfinancialrecords.OfficialsfromCentralEquatoriareportedprovidingthelowestproportionsoffeedback(writtenandverbal)toschoolsafterinspection.Findings fromCentral,Eastern,andWesternEquatoriawereoftensurprisinglybelowexpectationsbased on observed performance and resourcing of the education system there, while Lakesdemonstrated surprisingly better indications of good practice and efficiency than might besuggestedbytheobservedperformanceandresourcingof theeducationsystemthere. It isworth

1Note that this 8.8 average still includes responses of an unexpectedly high number of days including 2.2% (n=6) of respondents who claimed to have participated in 90 days of training and 0.7% (n=2) who claimed to have participated in 60 days of training.


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considering the possibility of embellished answers that serve to distort the comparative base ofmorerealisticresponses.Responses from Lakes andNorthernBahr elGhazal suggest that schools in these States aremostlikelytoprovidethelightestpunitivemeasurestowardteachersaccusedofinappropriatebehaviour,including sexual contac with students and provide the least support for students. There aresuggestions that traditional structures are stronger than police influence in these areas, whichreinforces findings fromHousehold and School Survey Reports that found these States to be themosttraditionalintermsofattitudesandbehaviour.While Payam Education Offices appear to have mixed levels of involvement in school financialmanagement there are indications that Payam officials are insufficiently aware of their office’sdutiestowardtheschoolsundertheirsupervision.


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1 Introduction & Background

1.1 Background on South Sudan On 9 July 2011, six years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), SouthSudandeclareditsindependencefromSudan,afterenduringmorethantwodecadesofdevastatingcivil war. The 2005 CPA reinstated regional autonomy to the South—previously revoked byKhartoum in 1983—and established a shared system of governance between the Government ofNational Unity (GoNU) in the North and the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan(GoSS), formally ending one of Africa’s longest civilwars. In January 2011, theGoSS conducted areferendum on self-determination resulting in an overwhelming majority voting in favour ofsecedingfromtheNorth.Upon securing statehood, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan was confronted withwidespreaddevelopment challenges. Successive generationshadmissedouton formal education,withonly37%ofthepopulationreportingtheyhadpreviouslyorcurrentlyattendedschool(47%ofmalesand28%offemales).2Consequently,illiteracyratesarehigh,andjustoveraquarter(27%)ofthepopulationaged15yearsandolderreportbeingabletoreadandwrite.3Anestimated50.6%ofthepopulationlivesbelowthenationalpovertyline.4Inaddition,51%ofthepopulationisunder18years of age.5 Infant mortality remains high, at 105 deaths per 1,000 live births and maternalmortality at 2,054 per 100,000 live births.6 In addition, the country faces significant political andsocio-economic challenges—particularly internal and external instability, inter-communal conflict,highinfluxesofreturneesandotherpopulationmigrationissues,andalackof infrastructure—thatcontinuetoundermineeffortstoestablishafunctionalstate.On 15 December 2013, violence broke out in Juba, and there have been disturbances across thecountrysince,includingsustainedinsecurityandviolenceinUpperNile,Unity,andJongleiStates.7DisplacementhasbeenwidespreadinSouthSudansinceDecember2013;theUnitedNationsOfficefortheCoordinationofHumanitarianAffairs(OCHA)reported1.3millioninternallydisplacedpeopleand449,000refugeesinthe28August2014SouthSudanSituationReport.8DataprovidedbyOCHA,the International Organization forMigration (IOM), UNHCR, the United NationsMission in SouthSudan (UNMISS) and other humanitarian partners9 indicates greater numbers of displacement inUnity,UpperNile,andJongleiStates;anestimated579,700arenowdisplacedinJonglei,followedbyanother280,800 IDPs inUnity State.10Despitepeace talks and cease-fire agreements, the conflicthasnotyetbeenresolved.11

2 Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, ”Nutrition Country Paper-South Sudan.” February 2013. Available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/wa_workshop/ECAfrica-caadp/South-Sudan_NCP_210213.pdf 3 World Bank, “South Sudan Overview.” Available at http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southsudan/overview, 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 For more detailed information on the latest outbreak of violence as well as a broader overview of the development of the conflict in South Sudan prior to December 2013, please see International Crisis Group, “South Sudan: A Civil War by Any Other Name,” African Report No. 217, 10 April 2014, 1-26. Available at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/south%20sudan/217-south-sudan-a-civil-war-by-any-other-name.pdf. 8 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “South Sudan Crisis, Situation Report No. 51,” 28 August 2014, 1, available at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/South_Sudan_Crisis_Situation_Report_51_as_of_28_August.pdf. 9 See notes in http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/South_Sudan_Crisis_Situation_Report_51_as_of_28_August.pdf and http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/South_Sudan_Humanitarian_Snapshot_26August2014.pdf. 10 United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “South Sudan Crisis, Situation Report No. 51,” 28 August 2014, 1, available at:


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1.2 Education in South Sudan EducationremainsamajorchallengethroughoutSouthSudan,anddecadesofwarandinsecurityinadditiontoacontinuingemergencycontext inmanypartsofthecountrymeanthatthecountry isstill at an exceptionally low educational base.12 With ongoing insecurity against a backdrop ofhumanitarian emergencies such as famine andextremepoverty, there is an acknowledged risk of“losinganothergeneration to theveil of illiteracyandeducationalneglect”.13 Suchamonumentalrisk is recognised by the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the latest GeneralEducationStrategicPlanstatestheneedto,“laythefoundationsofaneducationsystemworthyofthecitizensofthenation”.14ThecurrentGeneralEducationStrategicPlan(GESP) isfoundedontheuniversalrighttoeducationandhasagoalof2022toachievetheMillenniumDevelopmentgoalof‘educationforall’;thebasisofsuchrightsaresetwithinSouthSudan’sTransitionalConstitution(2011)whichguarantees“freeandcompulsoryeducationattheprimarylevel”.15Accordingto2011datafromtheEducationManagementInformationSystem(EMIS),lessthanhalf(42.9%)ofschoolagechildrenareinschoolwhileoverfour-fifths(86.7%)ofover-agestudentsarestill in primary school.16Gender inequalities amongst students and female teachers are extremelyhigh with only 38.8% of girls enrolled at primary school and an even starker 1.9% enrolled insecondaryschool.17Aroundatenth(10.2%)ofallsecondaryschoolteachersarefemale,18meaningashortageofsupportiveclassroomenvironmentsandpositiverolemodelsforgirls.Themostcommonly reported reasons fornotattending school includenomoney for school costs(31.8%), school being too far from home (29.8%), and cultural reasons (20.8%).19Consequently,illiteracy ratesarehighand justoveraquarter (27%)of thepopulation15andolder reportbeingabletoreadandwrite.20Decadesofcivilwarhavemeantthatschoolinfrastructureandbasicservicesareeithercompletelylackingorofverypoorquality.AccesstotheformalstructuresthatdoexistwasrecognisedbytheGovernment of Southern Sudan as being highly problematic and parallel systems of formal andalternativeeducationsystemsweredeveloped.Theformaleducationsystemcompriseseightyearsof primary education (P1-P8), four years of secondary education (S1-S4), and four years of highereducation (university, college, in-service teacher training, or vocational/technical training).21 Thealternativeeducationsystem(AES)consistsofsixdifferentprogrammes,andofferschildren,youth,andadultsflexibleentrypointstoeducation.

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/South_Sudan_Crisis_Situation_Report_51_as_of_28_August.pdf. See map on page 1. 11 See International Crisis Group, “CrisisWatch No. 132,” 1 August 2014, available at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/crisiswatch/2014/crisiswatch-132.aspx. See also: BBC News, “South Sudan rebels break ceasefire – Unmiss,” 21 July 2014, available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28400777. See also: BBC News, “South Sudan crisis: Riek Machar rebels reject deal,” 28 August 2014, available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28966971. 12 Ibid. 1. 13 Hammond, H. (2013), Language of Instruction for Increased Access to Relevant Education for Conflict-Affected Children in South Sudan, International Affairs Review, XXI: 2, Spring 2013. Page 2 14Government of South Sudan, Ministry for General Education and Instruction, “General Education Strategic Plan (2012-2017)”. Page ix. 15 Ibid.13 16 Ibid.14 17 Ibid.14 18 Ibid.14 19 Government of South Sudan, Statistical Yearbook of Southern Sudan 2010. Page 76.20 Ibid, 82. 21 Government of South Sudan, Education Management Information System, 2012. Page 7.


17

Before theCPA,SouthSudanusedtheSudaneseschoolcurriculumwithArabicas the languageofinstruction.However,aftersigningtheCPA,anincreasingnumberofschoolsmovedawayfromtheSudanesecurriculumtoUgandan,Kenyan,orEthiopiancurricula. Inmorerecentyearshowever,anewEnglish-languageSouthSudanesecurriculumwasdevelopedanduseofothercurriculahasbeenphasedout.Since Independence,Englishbecamethenation’sonlyofficial language,andthereforethe only official language of instruction in schools.22 The full transition of curricula, language ofinstruction, examinations offered, and teacher training in the language of instruction has beenchallengingandstillappearstobeincomplete.23

1.3 Background on Girls' Education South Sudan Girls’EducationSouthSudan(GESS)programmeaimstotransformagenerationofSouthSudanesegirls by increasing access to quality education. One of the strategic objectives of theMinistry ofEducation,ScienceandTechnology(MoEST)istoeliminatebarrierstogirls’educationandpromotegenderequalitythroughouttheeducationsystem.Educatinggirlsisthebestwaytoliftfamiliesandcommunities out of poverty, and put South Sudan on track for sustained development. GESSprogramming will supportMoEST to achieve this objective by supporting 200,000 individual girlsfromP5toS4acrossthetenStates,andbyaddressingthereasonsthatgirlsdonotgotoschool,thereasonstheyleaveschool,andthereasonstheydonotlearnasmuchastheyshould.UnderstandingmoreabouttheseissuesisakeyaspectoftheKnowledge,EvidenceandResearch(KER),aswellasmeasuringtheoutcomesandimpactsofprogrammeactivities.AfterthesixyearsCPAInterimPeriod(2005/2011)thatfollowedthesigningoftheCPAin2005,theGovernmentoftheRepublicofSouthSudan(GRSS)startedaTransitionPeriod(2011-2015)duringwhich a national census is due to be held (2015) and a Constitution due to be adopted. ThisTransitionPeriodwillculminateinthefirstSouthSudannationalelections.FortheTransitionPeriodGRSSanddonorsagreedtoharmonisetheeffectivenessandefficiencyofaid.Itwasinthiscontextinwhich the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) and the UK Government’sDepartment for International Development (DFID) agreed to the Girls’ Education in South Sudan(GESS).GESSwasofficiallylaunchedonJune14th,2013bytheUndersecretaryoftheMinistryofEducation,ScienceandTechnology(U/SMoEST)inapublicmeetingattendedbycloseto300officialsfromtheMoEST, DFID, other development partners, members of the South Sudan National LegislativeAssembly(SSNLA),studentsandthemedia.GESSsupportstheprioritiesoftheGovernmentoftheRepublicofSouthSudan(GRSS)Vision2040-“to build an educated and informed nation by 2040” and the strategic goal ofGeneral EducationStrategic Plan 2012/17 (GESP) “to increase access to general education and promote equityspecifically to eliminate barriers to girls’ education and promote gender equality throughout theeducation system”.At impact level,GESSwill contribute to transform, througheducation, the lifechancesofagenerationofchildren,especiallygirls.Tothiseffectthecorrespondingoutcomeistoaccelerate girls’ enrolment, retention and improve learning outcomes at primary and secondaryschools.TheprogrammeisexpectedtodeliverthefollowingkeyOutputsandsub-Outputs:

1. Enhanced household and community awareness and empowerment for supporting girls’education.

22Hammond, H. (2013), Language of Instruction for Increased Access to Relevant Education for Conflict-Affected Children in South Sudan, International Affairs Review, XXI: 2, Spring 2013. Page 823 Ibid


18

2. EffectivepartnershipsbetweenGRSSandlocalorganisationstodeliveracommunity-basedschoolimprovementprogramme.a.Cashtransferstogirls/familiestosupportdirect/indirectcostsoftheireducation;b.Capitationgrantstoschoolsforschoolimprovement;c.Practicalsupporttoeducationmanagersandteacherstoimprovequalityofeducation;d.Community–basedconstructionin10pilotschools.

3.Increasedknowledgeandevidenceofwhatworkstopromotegirls’educationinSouthSudan.a. Establishment of an information base for what works in supporting girls’ education inSouthSudan(Knowledge,EvidenceandResearch);b. Development and implementation of a system for monitoring school attendance ofstudentsandteachers.

Theprogrammeisexpectedtodeliverthefollowingkeyresults:

• 150,000 individual girls in primary and 50,000 in secondary directly supported by theprogramme;

• 300,000uniqueindividualgirlsbenefitfromprogramme’sbroaderpackageofsupport;• 400,000boysalsobenefitfromprogramme’sbroaderpackageofsupporttoschools;• 1,000,000girlsinhouseholdsreachedthroughbehaviourchangecommunicationtofamilies,

communitiesandleaders;• 2,600schoolsbenefittingfromcapitationgrants.

1.4 Background on the Knowledge, Evidence and Research Component The Knowledge, Evidence and Research (KER) component is led by a sub-committee of the GESSTechnical Committee. The sub-committee is responsible for taking key decisions on the researchwork and approving final research instruments and products. The sub-committee has appointedworking teams, comprised of experts fromwithin theMinistry, to develop tools for the research.This process is supported by Charlie Goldsmith Associates and Forcier Consulting. For the SchoolSurveycomponentoftheprogramme,datacollectionwasmanagedbyStateAnchorNGOsineachState,followingcomprehensivetrainingontrainingandsupervisingforresearch.TheyalsomobilisedCounty Liaisonofficers for the school andgovernment surveywork (also knownasCountyPayamSurvey). Additional research expertise from Forcier Consulting was employed for the HouseholdSurvey.ThepurposeoftheKERcomponent istogenerateknowledgeaboutwhatworks ineducation,andabout programmatic causality and impact. The research seeks to develop knowledge about theimpact of project interventions, links from inputs to outcomes and impacts, as well as broaderinformationaboutwhatworks ingirls’education.Research for theprojectwill takeplace in threephases:baseline,mid-term(2016),andend-term(2018).


19

2 Purpose of Survey & Methodology

2.1 Overall GESS Research Objectives The overall GESS research is based on the following two overarching questions,which have beendevelopedbasedontheexpectedoutcomesoftheprogramme:

1. HastherebeenachangeinenrolmentandretentionforgirlsandboysP5-P8andS1-S4,andwhichaspectsoftheprogrammecontributedtowardsthis?

2. Hastherebeenachangeinqualityofeducation,asdemonstratedbyimprovedlearningforP5-P8andS1-S4?Whatchangesinthelearningandteachingenvironmenthavecontributedtothis?

Theprogrammeoutcomesaredirectly concernedwith improvements inenrolment, retentionandlearning.ASchoolSurvey,conductedinn=151primaryschoolandn=47secondaryschoolsinsevenStatesinJuly2014,capturedbaselinedataontheseoutcomes.

TheoverallobjectivesoftheGESSprojectsurveysare:• Tomonitorchangescurrentlyoccurringinschools,particularlychangesrelatedtotheGESS

project;• ToidentifyaspectsoftheGESSprogrammecontributingtowardschangesintheenrolment

rateamonggirlsandboysP5-P8andS1-S4;• To identify aspects of the GESS programme that will contribute toward the future

measurementofgirls’andboys’retentionratesbetweenP5-P8andS1-S4.TheoverallKERcomponentofGESSseeksto:

• DevelopNationalandStatecapacityforresearchanduseofevidence;• Developknowledgeabouttheimpactofprojectinterventions;• Developbroaderinformationaboutwhatworksingirls’education;• Incorporateprocessmonitoringintolearningaboutsuccessesandareassforimprovement

indesignandimplementation,protectagainstdoingharmandmonitorvalueformoney;• Informpolicy-making:budgetpriorities,targetedsupport.

Anotherareaofresearch,aspartofKER,enquiringinmoredepthaboutrelationships,activitiesandprocesses linking programme interventions to the outcomes will be in the form of LearningAssessments,whichare intended tobea seriesofmathematics andEnglish tests applied tomaleandfemalepupilsinP5,P8,andS2.

CountyandPayamSurveyswerealsoconductedwithCountyandPayamofficialsbetweenAprilandSeptember 2014with the purpose of gathering information regarding themanagement structureandcapacitiesofEducationOfficesandCountyEducationDepartments.


20

3 Purpose of County Payam Survey & Methodology

3.1 Aim of Survey The purpose of County and Payam Survey is to gather information regarding the managementstructure and capacities of County Education Departments and Payam Education Offices. ThisinformationwillbeusedtofacilitatetheworkofGESSandtheMoEST.AsmuchoftheoverallprojectisconcernedwithbuildingGovernmentcapacityattheselevels,understandingmoreaboutthelinksand processes involved between County and payam offices and the schools will be essential toverifyingassumptionsintheprogrammedesignandtracingcausalprocessesfromtheGovernmenttoschools.

3.2 Survey Objectives Theobjectivesofthissurveyare:

• To gather information on the financial and accountability structure at County and payamofficelevels;

• To recognize gender-aware procedures and approaches for inspection and supervision atPayamandcountylevels;

• TounderstandteachermanagementpracticeatPayamandcountrylevels;• TounderstandthecapacityoftheEducationOfficialsatthesetwolevels;and• TounderstandCountyandPayamEducationOfficers’rolesinthesystem.

3.3 Survey Indicators ThePayamsurveyaimedtocollectinformationonthefollowingareas:

• RolesandresponsibilitiesoftheofficialsatCountyandpayamEducationoffices;• AdministrativeandfinancialaspectsatCountyandpayamEducationoffices, includingdata

onschoolsandpersonnel;• CommunicationchannelsbetweenPayamandtheschools,andPayamandCounty;• Waysinwhichthepayamofficialswhoareresponsibleforeducationprocesses,understand

thenationalandstatepolicies,plans,strategies,andprocess,andhowtheserelatetotheirjob;

• Proceduresusedforinspectionandsupervisionofschools;• Perceptionsofenablersandchallengesforchildren(especiallygirls)andschoolsinaccessto

anddeliveryofqualityeducation.TheCountysurveyaimedtocollectinformationonthefollowingareas:

• RolesandresponsibilitiesofCountyEducationDepartments;• Administrativeandfinancialsystems,includingdataonschoolsandpersonnel;• CommunicationchannelsbetweenCountyandPayam,andCEDandSMoE;• HowCountyofficialsunderstandnational and statepolicies,plans, strategies andprocess,

andhowtheserelatetotheirjob;• Proceduresinplaceandusedforinspectionandsupervisionofschools;• Perceptionsof theenablersandchallenges forchildren (especially forgirls)andschools in

accesstoanddeliveryofqualityeducation.


21


22

3.4 Methodology 3.4.1 Sampling Strategy The original sampling strategy was developed by Education for Change, who also designed thequantitative tools. Quantitative surveyswere originallymeant to be conductedwith personnel inpayam and county education departments in the same payams and counties inwhich the SchoolSurveyswereconducted.Oneofficial,responsibleforeducationintheoffice,wastobeinterviewedin each department. This strategywasmeant to allow for direct comparison between the schoolleveldataandchangesinthestructuresandsystemswhichsupportanddirecttheschools.However, it was subsequently felt that this strategy would provide only a limited picture of theeducation structures in place and it was therefore decided to broaden the sample frame to allCounty and Payam offices within each State, irrespective of whether a School Survey had beenconductedthereornot.Initially all ten States were included in the sampling strategy; however, violence in South Sudanbrokeouton18December2014andspreadthroughoutthecountry,affectinginparticularJonglei,Unity,andUpperNileStates.Fieldworkinthesethreestatesprovedtoodangerousanddifficulttoconductandtheyweresubsequentlyremovedfromthesample.Therefore,thefinalstrategywastosampleallCountyandPayamofficesinCentralEquatoria,EasternEquatoria,Lakes,NorthernBahrelGhazal,Warrap,WesternBahrelGhazal,andWesternEquatoriaStates.3.4.2 Quantitative Data Collection Datawaspredominantlycollected insevenstates; fieldworkwasconductedbyStateAnchorswhobegandatacollectionon31March2014andconcludedon9thSeptember2014.EnumeratorsusedHuaweismartphonestorecordsurveydatainorderminimisetimeanddataentryerrors,aswellasOpen Data Kit (ODK) open source software. Smartphones were provided by Charlie GoldsmithAssociates with funding from GESS. Once collected, data was uploaded to the online platformFormhub.The GESS design and budget stipulated the use of one NGO implementer – either alone or in aconsortium–perstate,knownasStateAnchors(SA),toleadimplementationofquantitativesurveysatstate,county,payam,schoolandcommunitylevels.SAswereconsideredtobepartofthein-builtresilience of the GESS design, allowing an individual state-by-state approach to continuous datacollection, irrespective of delays in other states. The proposed advantage of locally-embeddedorganisationswastheywouldbeabletoworkinconflict-affectedlocationsinwaysandattimesthatinternationalorganisationscouldnot.Assuch,sixSAsweretrainedinDecember2013andtheotherfourinFebruary2014,allbytheCGAteam.TheSAsareasfollows:Table1:StateAnchorandPartnerOrganisationsbyStateState State Anchor Lead State Anchor Partners Central Equatoria Stromme Foundation ECS, ACROSS, BRAC Eastern Equatoria Caritas CH War Child Holland Lakes BRAC RDF Northern Bahr el Ghazal UMCOR HARD Warrap ADRA SSUDA Western Bahr el Ghazal HARD - Western Equatoria Windle Trust AET, ECS Jonglei FHSS Hold the Child, SALF, CASI Unity WTI Unido Upper Nile FHSS SSUDA


23

3.4.3 Quantitative Surveys Atotalofn=64Countysurveyswereconductedin47counties,andatotalofn=276Payamsurveyswereconductedin240payams.QuantitativesurveysweredesignedbyEducationforChange.Table2:ObservationscollectedinCentralEquatoriabyCountySurveyandPayamSurvey,(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Central Equatoria Juba 1 Dolo 1 Kajo-Keji 1 Ganji 1 Morobo 2 Gemeiza 1 Terekeka 1 Gondokoro 1 Yei River 1 Gulumbi 2 Juba 1 Kangapo 1 1 Kangapo 2 1 Kator 1 Kenyi 1 Kimba 1 Lainya 1 Lire 3 Lirya 2 Liwolo 1 Lobonok 1 Mangala 1 Mugwo 1 Muni 1 Munuki 1 Northern Bari 1 Nyepo 1 Nyori 1 Rego 2 Rejong 1 Rokon 1 Tali 2 Terekeka 1 Tijor 1 Tindilo 1 Tore 1 Wotogo 2 Wudabi 2 Yei 1 Total 6 42


24

Table3:NumberofObservationsCollectedinEasternEquatoriabyCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Eastern Equatoria Budi 1 Arilo 1 Ikotos 1 Bur 1 Kapoeta East 1 Chumakori 1 Kapoeta North 1 Himo Donge 1 Kapoeta South 3 Hiyala 1 Lafon 2 Ifwotu Isaloro 1 Magwi 1 Ikotos 1 Torit 1 Imotong 1 Imurok 1 Iwire 1 Iyire 1 Kapoeta 1 Katire 1 Katodori 1 Kimotong 1 Komiri 1 Kudo 1 Lauro 1 Lobone 1 Lohutok 1 Lomohidang North 1 Lomohidang South 1 Longeleya 1 Longiro 1 Lopit South East 1 Losite 2 Lotimor 1 Lotukei 1 Loudo 1 Machi I 1 Machi II 1 Magwi 1 Mugali 1 Nahichot 1 Narus 1 Natinga 1 Ngarich 1 Nimule 1 Nyong 1 Obbo 1 Pacidi 1 Pageri 1 Pajok 1 Pwata 1 Total 11 45


25

Table4:NumberofObservationsCollectedinLakes,byCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Lakes Awerial 1 Abiriu 1

Cuiebet 1 Adior 1

Rumbek Centre 1 Aduel 1

Rumbek East 1 Akot 1

Rumbek North 2 Aloor 1

Wulu 1 Amongping 1

Yirol East 1 Atiaba 1

Yirol West 1 Bahr-gel 1

Chitchok 1

Cueicok 1

Cuiebet 1

Domuloto 2

Duony 1

Jiir 1

Madol 1

Makundi 1

Maleng Agok 1

Malou Pec 1

Malueth 2

Maper 1

Matangai 3

Mayath 1

Mayom 1

Meen 1

Ngap 1

Pacong 1

Pagor 1

Rumbek Town 2

Tiaptiap 1

Wulu 1

Wuring 1

Unknown 3

Total 9 39


26

Table5:NumberofObservationsCollectedinNorthernBahrelGhazal,byCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Northern Bahr el Ghazal Aweil Centre 1 Ariath 1 Aweil East 1 Aroyo 2 Aweil North 1 Aweil Town East 2 Aweil South 2 Aweil Town North 1 Aweil West 1 Aweil town West 2 Aweil Town 2 Awiil 1 Awoda 2 Ayai 1 Ayat Centre 1 Ayat East 1 Ayat West 2 Baac 1 Barmayen 1 Chel South 2 Dokul 1 Gakrol 1 GomJuer Centre 1 Gumjuer East 1 Guom Juer West 1 Mabok Tong 1 Madhol 1 Makuac 1 Malual Baai 1 Malual Centre 1 Malual East 1 Malual North 1 Malual West 1 Mangar-Tong 1 Mangok 1 Mangok Lou 1 Manyiel 1 Mariam 1 Mariem East 1 Nyalath 1 Nyieth 1 Nyoc-awany 1 Panthou 1 Rial Dit 1 Tarweng 1 Tiar Aliet 1 Warawar 1 War-Lang-Garam 1 Wathmouk 1 Wunlang 1 Yargot 1 Unknown 3 Total 8 54


27

Table6:NumberofObservationscollectedinWarrap,byCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Warrap Tonj East 1 Akoc 1

Tonj North 1 Akon North 1

Tonj South 1 Akon South 1

Twic 1 Akop 1

Alabek 1

Alek North 1

Alek South 1

Alek West 1

Aliek 1

Ananatak 1

Awang 1

Awul 1

Gogrial 1

Jak 1

Kirik 1

Kuac North 1

Kuac South 1

Makuach 1

Manalor 1

Manyangok 1

Marial lou 1

Pagol 1

Palal 1

Paliang 1

Paweng 1

Raiu 1

Rualbelt 1

Thiet 1

Tonj East 1

Tonj Town 1

Tonj North 1

Tonj West 1

Turalei 1

Wanhalel 1

Wunlit 1

Wunrok 1

Unknown 1

Total 4 37


28

Table7:NumberofObservationscollectedinWesternEquatoria,byCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Western Equatoria Ezo 1 Amadi 1 Maridi 1 Andari 1 Mundri East 1 Bagidi 1 Mundri West 2 Bahr El Girindi 2 Mvolo 1 Bangasu 2 Nzara 1 Bariguna 1 Tambura 1 Basukangbi 1 Yambio 1 Bogori 1 Dari 1 Ezo 2 Gangura 2 Ibba Town 2 Kediba 1 Kokor 1 Kotobi 1 Kozi 1 Landilli 1 Lessi 1 Li-Rangu 1 Madebe 1 Mambe 1 Manikakara 1 Maridi 1 Mundri 2 Mvolo 1 Naandi 1 Nabanga 1 Nadiangere 2 Nagero 1 Namatina 1 Ngamunde 1 Nzara 2 Ringasi 1 S/Yubu 1 Sakure 1 Sangua 1 Tambura 2 Yambio 1 Yangiri 1 Yeri 1 Total 9 49


29

Table8:NumberofObservationscollectedinWesternBahrelGhazal,byCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Western Bahr el Ghazal Jur River 1 Kangi 1 Raja 4 Kuajieno 1 Wau 6 Marial Wau 1 Udici 1 Wau Bai 1 Wau South 1 Total 11 6 Table9:TotalNumberofObservationscollectedinJonglei,Unity,andUpperNilebyCountyandPayamSurvey(SouthSudan,September2014)State County n=x Payam n=x Jonglei Bor 2 Bor Town 1 Pochalla 1 Pochalla 1 Unity Ruweng 1 - 0 Upper Nile Fashoda 1 Banishiew 1 Maban 1 Kodok 1

Total 6 4

3.5 Limitations SomelimitationstodatacollectionmaybelinkedtotheuseofStateAnchors;duetotheirinherentlyindependent character there was no institutionalised method for tracking and recording theirprogress. Imposing a final date for data collection also appeared to be problematic, resulting indrawnout data uploads far beyond theproposed enddate. This resulted in delays to analysis. Infutureyearsofthesurveysweexpecttobelessaffectedviolentconflictinfield,andwillbeabletoimplementlessonswehavelearnedfromthefirstiterationofthisresearch.TheindirectcommunicationlinksbetweenForcierConsultingandtheStateAnchorsalsomeantthatdetailsofanychallengesorlimitationsexperiencedinthefield,suchaslimitationstotheirabilitytoconduct surveys or fulfil quotas, were not comprehensively passed on. Keeping a record oflimitationsprovidesusefulknowledgeforfuturetranchesofdatacollection,andmayberelevantinmitigatingpotentiallysimilarchallengesinthefuture.Itisrecommendedthatafieldworkreportofsomesortisincorporatedaspartofanyfuturedatacollector’sresponsibilities.SomeSAsmanagedtoprovidefeedbackontheirfieldworkandsevereaccesslimitationsinWesternBahrelGhazalmeantthatonlyn=6PayamofficialsweresurveyedinthisState.PayamsurveydataforWestern Bahr el Ghazal is therefore often exaggerated or anomalous to other data collectedfromotherStates;thishasbeenaccountedforintheanalysis.While officials in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile States were not meant to be surveyed due toinsecurity and issues of access, as evidenced by the above table 7, some SA staff managed toconduct surveys nonetheless. However, the data captured were too few to be consideredrepresentative sowhilst they remain in the dataset, they are not generally addressed in analysis.


30

References to ‘all States’ in this report therefore pertain to the seven key States sampled andexcludeJonglei,Unity,andUpperNileexceptwherestated.AgeneralnoteofcautionshouldbeprovidedwheninterpretingresponsesfromCountyandPayamofficials.Asquestionswereaskedrelatingtotheeffectivenessandefficiencyofofficials’workandrelating toknowledgeofandadherenceto theirduties, it ispossible thatsomerespondentswereinclinedtogiveresponsesthatshowedthemselvesandtheirofficesinthebestlight,attheexpenseof accuracy. This has been accounted for in analysis but is an important consideration to bear inmind.Duringthedatacleaningprocessafilter logicerrorwasfoundinasectionofPayamquestionnairemeaningthatnodatawascollectedforquestions2.16,2.17,2.19,2.20,and2.21.Theinformationthat should have been gathered centred on the type and length of teaching experience Payamofficialshad.24PayamsurveyQuestion2.16(Whatleveldidyouteach?)shouldhavebeenaskedtoallrespondentswho replied“yes” toQ2.15 (Haveyoueverbeena teacher ina school?);however, incorrect filterlogicmeantthatonlyrespondentswhoanswered“yes”toQ2.13(Canyouuseacomputer?Pleaserateyourabilityfrom1-5)wereaskedaboutthelevelofschooltheytaught.Astherewasno“yes”option for Q2.13, this means that no respondents were filtered to Q2.16, resulting in no datacollectedforthisquestion.ThesamefilterlogicwasappliedtoQ2.17(Forhowmanyyearsintotaldidyouteachinschools?)meaningthatnorespondentsweredirectedtothisquestion.Similarly,Q2.19(Forhowmanyyearsintotalwereyouaheadteacher?)shouldhavebeenaskedofallrespondentswhohadanswered“yes”toQ2.18(Haveyoueverbeenaheadteacherinaschool?).However, the filter logicappliedmeantthat thequestionwasonlyaskedtorespondentswhohadsaid“yes”toQ2.16(Whatleveldidyouteach?Selectallthatapply);astherewasno“yes”optionforQ2.16norespondentswerefilteredtoQ2.19.ThesameerrorappliestoQ2.20andQ2.21.Questions4.1and4.2,whichenquiredaboutthenumberofgovernment,community, faithbased,private, or other types of primary and secondary school in Payam, recorded high proportions ofblank responses. It is possible that the blank responses indicate that respondents didn’t know,especially as therewas no ‘Don’t Know’ response option provided for this question. Instances ofblankresponseswerethereforecodedas‘Undefined’andremaininthedatasetsasanindicationofpossible‘don’tknow’responses.

24 The specific questions with no responses are as follows: Q2.16 What level did you teach?; Q2.17 For how many years in total did you teach in schools?; Q2.19 For how many years were you a head teacher?; Q2.20 What was the name of the last school you worked in?; Q2.21 What was the name of the last school you worked in?


31

4 Findings

4.1 Characteristics and Background of County and Payam Officials TherewasanextremelyunbalancedgendercompositionofrespondentsinbothCountyandPayamsurveys,with96.9%(n=62)ofCountymaleto3.1%(n=2)femalerespondents.ThiswasmirroredinPayam survey,whereby98.2% (n=271) respondentsweremale andonly 1.8% (n=5)were female.Female respondents for Payam survey were from Eastern Equatoria - Kapoeta East and ToritCounties (n=2);Western Equatoria - Ezo andMundriWest Payams (n=2); and Central Equatoria -Jubapayam(n=1).BothfemalerespondentsforCountysurveywerefromWesternBahrElGhazal.ThemajorityofCountyofficials surveyed (90.6%,n=58) reported tobeunderpermanent full-timecontracts, with 3.1% (n=2) on permanent but part time contracts; such contracts were held byofficialsinNorthernBahrelGhazal,inAweilEastandAweilSouthpayams.Proportionally, slightly fewer Payam officials reported having permanent, full-time contracts thanCounty officials but thiswas still themost dominant type of contract held, as reported by 85.9%(n=237)ofPayamrespondents.ProportionallymorepayamofficialsthanCountyofficialsreportedtobe on permanent, part-time contracts (8.3%, n=23); the majority of officials with this type ofcontract were fromNorthern Bahr el Ghazal (n=15, 65.2%). No respondent stated having a fixedterm,parttimecontract.Figure1:ComparisonofTypesofContractheldbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)25

Slightlyunderhalf(44.9%,n=124)ofPayamsurveyrespondentswerePayamEducationSupervisors,including80.0%(n=4)ofthefemalerespondents.ProportionallysimilarlevelsofrespondentswerePayam Education Officers (25.0%, n=69) and Payam School Supervisors (27.9%, n=77). Very few(1.4%,n=4)wereSeniorSupervisorsandonlyn=2(0.7%)stated‘Other’.

25 0.7% (n=2) of payam survey respondents answered ‘don’t know’.

85.9%

8.3%1.4% 0.0% 2.9% 0.7%

90.6%

3.1% 1.6% 0.0% 3.1% 1.6%

Permanent,fullpme

Permanent,partpme

Fixedterm,partpme

Fixedterm,partpme

Nocontract Other

Payam(n=276) County(n=64)


32

4.1.1 Qualifications, Skills, and Training Officials tend to speak English and Arabic; over half of Payam officials have a certificate inteaching/education,whileoverhalfofCountyofficialshaveadiplomainteaching/education.Proportionally,morePayamofficials(45.7%,n=126)spokeDinkaastheirmothertonguewhilemoreCountyofficialsspokeanunspecifiedlanguage(other)astheirmothertongue(48.4%,n=31).Figure2:MothertonguelanguagesofPayamandCountyOfficials,byLanguage(SouthSudan,September2014)

ItshouldbenotedthatnoofficialsreportedNuerastheirmothertongueandonlytwoCountyandone Payam officials reported being able to speak it. This is most likely due to surveys not beingcomprehensivelycarriedoutinJonglei,UnityorUpperNileStateswhereNuerismostprevalent.ItwasalmostinvariablythecaseforPayamandCountyofficialstoalsospeakEnglish;themajorityofofficialsalsospokeArabic,thoughthiswasproportionatelyhigheramongCountyofficials,at96.9%(n=62).Figure3:OtherLanguagesSpokenbyPayamandCountyOfficials,byLanguage(SouthSudan,September2014)26

26 Respondents were allowed to select more than one response option.

45.7%

30.8%

14.1%9.4%

35.9%

48.4%

9.4%6.3%

Dinka Other Bari Zande

Payam County


33

When rating their own reading and writing abilities, Payam and County officials were the mostconfident communicating in English, with 44.2% (n=122) of Payam officials and 51.6% (n=33) ofCounty officials rating themselves at the highest possible rating. County officials wereproportionatelymoreconfidentintheirabilitytoreadandwriteinArabic,with50.0%(n=32)ratingthemselvesat thehighest levelofability.Overall, fewCountyandPayamofficials reportedhavinganylevelofproficiencyreadingorwritinginSwahili.Figure4:Self-ReportedAbilityofPayamandCountyOfficialsinReadingandWritinginArabic,English,andSwahili,byLevelofAbility(SouthSudan,September2014)

Payam officials reported participating in an average of 11.5 days of professional developmenttraining in 2013. However, this includes responses whereby officials claimed to have receivedtraining every day of the year, 270 days of the year and 102 days of the year; such claims are

98.9%

85.1%

51.1%

16.7%11.6% 8.3%

0.7% 0.4%

100.0% 96.9%

40.6%

12.5%6.3% 9.4%

1.6% 4.7%

English Arabic Dinka Bari Zande Swahili French Nuer


30.1%

17.2%

2.2%0.0%

26.8% 26.6%

19.2%

10.9%

4.3%

10.9%

3.3%0.0%

15.2%12.5%

18.8%

7.8%

2.2% 1.6%

9.8%6.3%

25.0% 26.6%

0.4%1.6%

21.4%

50.0%

44.2%

51.6%

0.7%

4.7%

Payam(n=276) County(n=64) Payam(n=276) County(n=64) Payam(n=276) County(n=64)

Arabic English Swahili

1(noability) 2 3 4 5(veryhighability)


34

somewhat unlikely, and excluding such responses results in an average of 8.8 days of trainingundertaken.27Countyofficialsreportedparticipatinginanaverageof24.8daysoftrainingin2013;however, this includesn=3 responses claiming tohaveparticipated in trainingon365daysof thepastyear.Discountingtheseunlikelyresponses,theaveragenumberofdaysoftrainingreceivedis5.5.Countyofficials’responses indicatethattheyparticipated inanaverageof4.2studyvisits in2013.However, this includes n=1 response of 120 study visits undertaken; when this observation isremoved,theaverageisreducedto2.2daysofvisitsundertakenin2013.While59.4%(n=38)ofCountyofficialsparticipatedinatleastonestudyvisitin2013,three-quarters(75.0%,n=48)ofCountyofficialshavebeenaccreditedasschoolinspectors.Figure5:QualificationsGainedbyCountyandPayamOfficials,byLevelofEducation(SouthSudan,September2014)

Nearly two-thirds (63.8%,n=176)ofPayamofficials reportedhavingnoability in computerusage,with an additional 15.9% (n=55) having below average ability.28One-fifth (20.3%, n=56) of Payamofficialsreportedhavingaverageproficiencyorhigher;comparedto53.1%(n=34)ofCountyofficialswhohaveaverageproficiencyorhigherincomputerusage.Figure6:Self-ReportedAbilityinComputerUsage(SouthSudan,September2014)C

27Note that this 8.8 average still includes responses of an unexpectedly high number of days including 2.2% (n=6) of respondents who claimed to have participated in 90 days of training and 0.7% (n=2) who claimed to have participated in 60 days of training.28 Those that self-reported "2" on the ability scale are assumed to consider their abilities below average.

8.3%

23.2%

64.9%

4.3%

17.0%

0.7%

3.3%

3.1%

9.4%

42.2%

15.6%

56.3%

4.7%

20.3%

Noneoftheabove

Cerpficateinanothersubject

Cerpficateinteaching/educapon

Diplomainanothersubject

Diplomainteaching/educapon

Otherdegree

BachelorofEducapon(BEd)

County(n=64) Payam(n=276)


35

Overall, officials feltmuchmore proficient in their ability to usemobile phones,with almost half(47.5%, n=131) of Payam officials and nearly two-thirds (65.6%, n=42) of County officials self-reporting the highest ability level in mobile phone usage. On a proportional average, however,phoneusageabilitywasreportedasthelowestinWesternBahrelGhazalState.Figure7:Self-reportedAbilityinMobilePhoneUsage(SouthSudan,September2014)

63.8%

15.9%9.4%

5.4% 5.4%

28.1%

18.8% 20.3%14.1%

18.8%

1(noability) 2 3 4 5(veryhighability)


4.7%7.2%

12.3%

28.3%

47.5%

1.6%

7.8% 6.3%

18.8%

65.6%

1(noability) 2 3 4 5(veryhighability)Payam(n=276) County(n=64)


36

4.1.2 Education Sector Experience Proportionately,CountyofficialstendedtoworklongerintheircurrentroleandcurrentofficethanPayam officials. At 8.3 years, County officials reported a higher average of years in their currentrole.29Thisfigureincludesn=8respondentswhoreportedholdingtheircurrentpositionfor32yearsormore.Countyofficialsworkedanaverageof6.6yearsintheircurrentoffice.30Onaverage,Payamofficialsworked5.3years intheircurrentrole.31Thisfigureincludesn=1respondentwhoreportedholdingtheircurrentpositionfor43years.Payamofficialsworkedanaverageof5.8years intheircurrentoffice,whichislowerthantheaverageforCountyofficialsbuthigherthantheaveragetimespentinthecurrentroleforPayamofficials.Almost all officials surveyed had a background in teaching although County officials tended tohaveheldmoreseniorpositionsthanPayamofficials.All (100.0%, n=64) County officials reported having been a teaching in a school while almost all(99.3%, n=274) of Payam officials had previously been a teacher.Whilst they were teachers, themajorityofCountyofficials(98.4%,n=63)hadpreviouslytaughtprimaryclasseswhilejustunderaquarter(23.4%,n=15)hadalsotaughtatsecondarylevel.Fewhadtaughtatthetertiary(3.1%,n=2)orpre-primary(7.8%,n=5)level.Countyofficialsreportedanaverageteachingcareerof17.7years.Figure8:LevelofSchoolthatCountyOfficialshadtaughtwhilstaTeacher,asreportedbyCountyOfficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014)

Althoughhighproportionsofbothtypesofofficialsreportedthattheyhadpreviouslybeenaheadteacherinaschool,proportionallymoreCountyofficialshadheldthispositionthanPayamofficials(95.3%,n=61ofCountyofficialscomparedto85.8%,n=235ofPayamofficials). OfCountyofficialswhohadeverbeenaheadteacher, theyreportedtohaveheldthisposition foranaverageof6.8years. This indicates that peoplewho reached higher levels of seniority in the school system aremorelikelytoreachhigherlevelsofseniorityinthebroadereducationalandgovernmentalsystem.In addition, a degree of self-selection is likely in that the brightest, most capable, and mostexperiencedpeoplewillachievethehigherpositionsofheadteacherandCountyofficial.29 N=1 respondent reported the year "2012" as a response, which was interpreted as meaning they had been in their current role since 2012. This observation was therefore considered 2 years in the mean score calculation. 30 N=1 respondent reported the year "1993" as a response, which was interpreted as meaning they had been at their office since 1993. This observation was therefore considered 21 years in the mean score calculation. 31 N=3 respondents reported years (1997, 2005, and 2007) as a response, which was interpreted as meaning they had been in their current role since that year. These observations were therefore considered 17 years, 9 years, and 7 years, respectively in the mean score calculation.

7.8%

98.4%

23.4%

3.1%

Pre-primary Primary Secondary Terpary


37

Relatively few County officials (15.6%, n=10) reported having previously been a Payam EducationSupervisor,PayamEducationOfficer,orPayamSchoolSupervisor,but itshouldalsobenotedthatthemajorityofrespondents(76.6%,n=49)didnotanswerthisquestionatall.ThosethathadbeenaPayamEducationSupervisorreportedspendinganaverageof3.2yearsinthatposition.

4.2 Administrative and Financial Systems 4.2.1 Personnel CountyEducationDepartmentsappeartohavemorestaffthanPayamEducationOffices.Payam officials reported an average of 9.0members of staff in their officewhile County officialsreported an averageof 34.7 staffmembers per County EducationDepartment. This is a relativelyhighnumberanditshouldbenotedthatthisaverageincludessomeunlikelyobservations,includingoneofficeinBor(Jonglei)recordingn=543staffmembers,anotherinTonjNorth(Warrap)recordingn=457members,oneinNzara(WesternEquatoria)citingn=235members,anotherofficialfromBorclaimingn=200members,andfinallyoneobservationfromRumbekCentre(Lakes)recordingn=103members. Excluding these observations, the average number of staff members per CountyEducationDepartmentlowersto11.6.Findings suggest that there are, on average, 7.4 school inspectors per County Education Office,although IkotosCounty inEasternEquatoriastandsout forhavinga reported56 inspectorswithintheoffice.Anaverageof3.2SchoolandEducationSupervisorswerereportedperPayamEducationOffice.Theaveragenumbersofstaffreportedarestrikinglyhigh inrelationtothenumberofschoolsandteachersundertheirsupervision–oftheorderof5000overheadtooftheorderof20,000frontlineteachers.4.2.2 Office Equipment Educationofficesdonotappeartobewellequippedalthoughgenerally,CountyEducationofficialsreportedhavingmoreofficefacilitiesthanPayamofficials.Findingssuggest thatbothCountyandPayamofficeshave low levelsofofficeequipment,withonaverage,onlyafifth(20.1%)ofCountyofficialsreportingtohavesomeformofofficefacilitiesandanaverageofonly13.9%ofPayamofficialsreportingtohavetheofficefacilitieslistedbelow.Less than half of either type of office are in a permanent building, with the fewest reportedpermanent structures inNorthern Bahr el Ghazal (as reported by 29.6%, n=16 of Payamofficials)state.Meansofcommunicationviatelephoneorinternetarestartlinglylimitedwithonlyaroundafifthofbothofficetypes(20.3%,n=13Countyand21.4%,n=59Paym)reportingtohavetelephones.Only8.7%(n=24)ofPayamofficesreportedlyhavecomputerswithextremelylimitedinternetaccess–reportedlyonlyavailablein1.1%(n=3)ofPayamoffices.Surprisingly,allPayamofficesreportingtohaveinternetaccess(allinNorthernBahrelGhazal-AweilTownn=2andAweilWestn=1)andnoneofCountyofficesinthisStatewerereportedtohaveinternetaccess.MoreCountyoffices reportedhaving computers (29.7%,n=19)but their internet connectivitywasjust as limited as Payam offices (1.6%, n=1). Proportionally, County offices in Central Equatoriareportedthehighestcomputeraccess,accordingto83.3%(n=5)ofofficialsfromCentralEquatoria;theCountieswithcomputerswereJuba,Morobo,Terekeka,andYeiRiver.Similarly,Payamofficesin


38

Central Equatoria reported the highest prevalence of computers, cited by 26.2% (n=11) of Payamofficials.32Lackofcomputersandinternetappearstobeunderpinnedbypoorelectricitysupply–availableto17.2%(n=11)and5.1%(n=14)ofCountyandPayamofficesrespectively–andalackofgenerators,availableto18.8%(n=12)and4.7%(n=13)ofCountyandPayamofficesrespectively.More concerning basic shortages were also found with less than a third of both office typesreportingtohavedesks.Outofthen=11CountyofficialsinterviewedinEasternEquatoria,onlyn=1reported theirofficeashavingdesks,33whileonlyn=2of then=9officials interviewed inWesternEquatoriareportedthesame.34In general, Countyoffices appear tobe slightlybetter equipped toundertakeadministrativeworkthan Payam offices. However, means of communication between offices are poor and likely tonegatively impacttheway inwhichofficialscancoordinateactivitieswitheachotherandwiththeschoolsundertheiradministration.However,giventhehighlevelsofmobilephoneproficiencycited,itispossiblethatofficialsareabletocircumventinstitutionalequipmentshortagesthroughtheuseofpersonalmobilephones.It shouldalsobenoted that somen=10Counties reportedhavingnoneof the listed facilities,andthesewerepredominantlyfromEasternEquatoriaandLakes.35Figure9:ProportionalComparisonoftheFacilitiesandEquipmentavailableinCountyandPayamOffices,asreportedbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)

32 Payam offices in Central Equatoria with computers are in Juba (n=1), Kajo Keji (n=3), Morobo (n=5), Terekeka (n=1) and Yei River (n=1) 33 County office in Eastern Equatoria with desks was Ikotos. 34 County offices in Western Equatoria with desks were Nzara and Yambio. 35 Lainya, Kapoeta East, Kapoeta North, Kapoeta South, Magwi, Rumbek North, Yirol East, Ruweng, Tonj East, Mvolo

8.7%

23.6%

5.1%

4.7%

1.1%

41.7%

3.6%

23.6%

21.4%

5.1%

29.7%

29.7%

17.2%

18.8%

1.6%

39.1%

14.1%

29.7%

20.3%

9.4%

Computers

Desks

Electricity

Generator

Internet

Permanentbuilding

Prinpngfacilipes

Storagefacilipes

Telephone

Unmovablesafe



39

4.2.3 Financial Organisation ThemajorityofCountyandPayamofficesdonotappeartohaveaccesstoabankaccountThemajority(81.3%,n=52)ofCountyofficialsstatedthattheirCountyeducationofficedidnothaveaccesstoabankaccount,while15.6%(n=10)reportedthattheydo.Similarly,themajority(89.9%,n=248)ofPayameducationofficialsclaimedthattheirofficedidnothaveaccesstoabankaccount,comparedto8.7%(n=24)whodid.Asthefigurebelowdemonstrates,thehighestproportionofCountyofficesreportedtohavebankaccounts are located in Eastern and Central Equatoria two exceptions inWestern Bahr el Ghazal(Wau)andNorthernBahrelGhazal(AweilTown).With hindsight, it would have been desirable also to have checked about how many CountyEducationDepartmentsbankedusingCountyAdministration’saccount,which ismeant toactasa‘singletreasury’forCounty.


40

Figure10:ProportionofCountyOfficeswithaBankAccount,asreportedbyCountyOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0%

TOTAL(n=64)

Juba(n=1)

Kajo-Keji(n=1)

Morobo(n=0)

Terekeka(n=2)

YeiRiver(n=1)

Budi(n=1)

Ikitos(n=1)

KapoetaEast(n=1)

KapoetaNorth(n=1)

KapoetaSouth(n=1)

Lafon(n=2)

Magwi(n=1)

Torit(n=1)

Bor(n=2)

Pochalla(n=1)

Awerial(n=1)

Cuiebet(n=1)

RumbekCentre(n=1)

RumbekEast(n=1)

RumbekWest(n=2)

Wulu(n=1)

YirolEast(n=1)

YirolWest(n=1)

AweilCentre(n=1)

AweilEast(n=1)

AweilNorth(n=1)

AweilSouth(n=2)

AweilWest(n=1)

AweilTown(n=2)

Ruweng(n=1)

Fashoda(n=1)

Maban(n=1)

TonjEast(n=1)

TonjNorth(n=1)

TonjSouth(n=1)

Twic(N=1)

JurRiver(n=1)

Raja(n=4)

Wau(n=6)

Ezo(n=1)

Maridi(n=1)

MundriEast(n=1)

MundriWest(n=2)

Mvolo(n=1)

Nzara(n=1)

Tambura(n=1)

Yambio(n=1)

Yes No


41

4.3 Procedures in Place for the Inspection and Supervision of Schools 4.3.1 Types of Schools Government schools – both Primary and Secondary – appear to be themost dominant type ofschool; ratios of secondary to primary schoolswere similar between County and Payamofficialreports; officials appear poorly informed about the faith and other non-government schools intheirareas.According to County officials, there are an average of 39.2 government primary schools and anaverageof3.7secondaryschoolswithintheirCounty.Thisgivesaratioof10.6primaryschoolsto1secondaryschool.TherewerefarfewerreportsofCommunity,Faith-basedorPrivateschools.County official responses indicate that the strongest concentration of faith-based primary schoolsareinNorthernBahrelGhazal(55.5%,n=5inAweilEast,AweilNorth,AweilWestandAweilTownCounties)andLakes(62.5%,n=6inAwerial,Cuiebet,RumbekCentreandRumbekNorthCounties).It should be noted that there were high levels of blank or ‘Undefined’ responses when asked toprovideinformationonschoolsotherthantheGovernmentschools.Althoughtherewastheoptiontorespond‘Don’tknow’,asthenumberofblankresponsestendedtoincreaseproportionallyasthenumber of schools reported decreased. It seems highly likely that blanks are an indication thatofficials didnot have informationon these typesof schools. This suggests that non-governmentalschoolsmaybefallingundertheradarofEducationoffices.Figure11:AveragenumberofPrimaryandSecondarySchoolsperCountybySchoolType,asreportedbyCountyOfficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014)36

36Note that County officials ‘Undefined’ responses for the following Secondary school types: Government n=5 (7.8%); Community n=30 (46.9%); Faith based n=27 (42.2%); Private n=26 (40.6%). There were ‘Undefined’ responses for the following Primary school types: Government n=2 (3.1%); Community n=22 (34.4%); Faith based n=19 (29.7%); Private n=24 (37.5%); Other n=43 (67.2%).

39.2

3.75.3

0.82.9

0.72.6

0.8 0.5 0


42

ResponsesfromPayamofficialsmirroredtheresponsesfromCountyofficials.Governmentschoolswereby far themostdominant typeof school inPayamsand the ratioofGovernmentPrimary toSecondary schools was recorded as being 10.7: 1. This ratio almost exactly mirrors the ratiosprovidedbyCountyofficialsandindicatesadegreeofaccuracyandreliability.UnlikethefindingsfromCountysurvey,wherethemostreportsoffaith-basedprimaryschoolswerefromNorthernBahrelGhazalandLakes,findingsfromPayamfindingsindicatethatthemostreportsoffaith-basedschoolswerefromPayamsinCentralEquatoria(57.1%,n=24)andWesternEquatoria(51.0%,n=25).ThismaybeanindicationthatthereisagreatergapbetweenCountylevelandPayamlevelknowledgeofspecialist,non-governmentalschools.Figure12:AverageNumberofPrimaryandSecondarySchoolsperPayambySchoolType,asreportedbyPayamOfficials,n=276(SouthSudan,September2014)37

4.3.2 Accessing Schools Onaverage,Payamofficialsareresponsibleforanaverageof9.3primaryschoolsandanaverageof0.8primaryandsecondaryschoolscombined.38Themostcommonreported frequencyofvisitsbyPayam officials in 2013was 2-3 times a year, as cited by just over half (54.3%, n=150) of Payamsurveyrespondents.Aminority(2.9%,n=8)reportedthattheyhadnevervisitedschoolsin2013,andtheseofficialswerefromEasternEquatoria (n=2 from IkotosCounty,n=2 fromKapoetaEast),WesternEquatoria (n=1fromMaridi,n=1fromNagero),WesternBahrelGhazal(n=1fromAweilTown)andUpperNileState(n=1fromMaban).

37 Note that Payam officials provided blank or ‘Undefined’ responses for Secondary school types: Government; n=26 (9.4%); Community n=83 (30.1%); Faith-based n=91 (33.0%); Private n=106 (38.4%); Other n=150 (54.3%). For Primary school types, ‘Undefined’ responses were as follows: Government n=3 (1.1%); Community n=54 (19.6%); Faith-based n=75 (27.2%); Private n=112 (40.6%); Other n=157 (56.9%). 38 Note that 23.9% (n=66) of Payam officials provided ‘Undefined’ responses for the question of how many primary and secondary schools they were responsible for.

7.5

0.7

1.9

0.1

0.80.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0


43

ArelativelysignificantproportionofPayamofficials(14.5%,n=40)indicatedthattheyhadmadeover12schoolvisitsin2013.

• n=10oftheseofficialswerefromLakes(Cuiebetn=1,RumbekCentren=1,RumbekEastn=5,Wulun=2,andYirolEastn=1);

• n=9werefromWarrap(GogrialEastn=2,TonjNorthn=6,Twicn=1);• n=8werefromEasternEquatoria(Budin=2,Magwi,n=4,Toritn=2)• n=7were fromNorthern Bahr el Ghazal (Aweil Centre n=1, Aweil South, n=3, AweilWest

n=2,AweilTownn=1;• n=5werefromWesternEquatoria(Ezon=2,Ibban=2,Tamburan=1).

Figure13:AverageNumberofTimesPayamOfficialsVisitedSchoolsin2013,asreportedbyPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)

Countyofficialsreportedvisitinganaverageof26.9schoolsforofficialinspectionin2013.County officials have further distances to cover than Payam officials when visiting schools andhaveslightlybettermeansoftransport.The average distance of the furthest school from County officewas reported to be 86.2km awaywhile the average distance of the nearest school was reported to be 4.3km away. A quarter ofCountyofficials(25.0%,n=16)reportedhavingtotravelovera100kmtoreachthefurthestschool;of these respondents, the most concentrated proportion of 37.5% (n=6) were from EasternEquatoria.39JustabouthalfofCountysurveyrespondents(50.1%,n=32)statedthattheymadeschoolvisitswithan official County vehicle; of these, the majority (78.1%, n=25) drove official motorbikes, while18.8% (n=6) used an official County car with driver and 3.1% (n=1) used an official County carwithoutadriver.Aroundafifth(20.3%,n=13)reportedusingpublictransportwhile32.9%(n=21)reportedhavingtouse vehicles belonging to themselves, friends, or colleagues. Just over a quarter (26.6%, n=17)reported using ‘Other’means of transport, but thesewere not specified; it is possible that thesewerebicyclesorwalking,as thesewerenot includedas responseoptionsbuthavebeennotedascommonmeansoftransportfromothersurveys.39 Of these East Equatorian respondents, n=1 from Budi, n=1 from Ikotos, n=Kapoeta East, n=2 from Lafon, n=1 Magwi

14.5%

8.0%

17.8%

54.3%

2.5% 2.9%

12pmesormore 8-11pmes 4-7pmes 2-3pmes Once None


44

Figure14:MeansofTransportusedbyCountyOfficialstovisitSchools,asreportedbyCountyofficials,n=64(SouthSudan,September,2014)

The averagedistanceof the furthest school fromPayamofficeswas reported tobe27.7kmawaywhile the average distance of the nearest schoolwas reported to be 3.7km away. ProportionallyfewerPayamofficials reportedusingofficial vehicles for school visits thanCountyofficials (29.4%,n=52) and cars were significantly less cited with only 1.1% (n=3) of all Payam survey responses.Thesen=3respondentswerefromCentralEquatoria(Juba),EasternEquatoria(KapoetaNorth)andWarrap(GogrialWest).AslightlygreaterproportionofPayamofficialsusedpublictransportthanCountyofficials–30.4%(n=84)comparedto20.3%(n=13).Overall,theevidencesuggeststhatalthoughCountyofficialshavefurther reported distances to travel, to some extent, they have correspondingly bettermeans oftransport in the form of more official cars, drivers, and motorbikes in order to access remoteschools.However, thehighuseofpersonalvehicles,public transport,andunknownmodes (whichcould be bicycles orwalking) also indicates that education officials at all levels are constrained intheirabilitytoaccessdistantschools.Figure15:MeansofTransportusedbyPayamOfficialstovisitSchools,asreportedbyPayamOfficials,n=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

9.4%

1.6%

39.1%

18.8%

14.1%

20.3%

26.6%

1.6%

OfficialCountycaranddriver

OfficialCountycar,self-driven

OfficialCountymotorbike,self-driven

Owncarormotorbike

Colleagueorfriend'scarormotorbike

Publictransport

Other

Don’tvisitschools

0.4%

0.7%

28.3%

21.7%

13.4%

19.2%

30.4%

0.4%

OfficialPayamcaranddriver

OfficialPayamcar,self-driven

OfficialPayammotorbike,self-driven

Owncarormotorbike

Colleagueorfriend'scarormotorbike

Publictransport

Other

Don’tvisitschools


45

4.3.3 Duties during School Visits ProportionallymoreCountyofficialsreportedundertaking inspectiondutiesthanPayamofficialsand checking financial recordswas the leastwell performedduty by both types of governmentofficials.In general, similar proportions of County andPayamofficials reported carryingout specific dutiesduring school inspections or supervision visits. Data suggests that proportionally, more Countyofficials perform the full range of duties than Payam officials with the exceptions of lessonobservationswith6.2percentagepointsmorePayam thanCounty responses, and talking toheadteachers,with2.5percentagepointsmorePayamthanCountyresponses.The least well performed duties appear to be activities related to checking or inspecting schoolrecords and materials. Comparatively low response rates were recorded for Payam officials whocollect data for EMIS (56.5%, n=156), inspect financial records (58.0%, n=160), or check otherlearningmaterials(69.9%,n193).Similarly,thelowestresponseratesfromCountyofficialswereforinspectingfinancialrecords(60.9%,n=39),collectingdataforEMIS(64.1%,n=41),andcheckingthenumberoftextbooks(67.2%,n=185).The States where proportionally, the fewest County officials inspected financial records wereWarrap(25.0%,n=1)andEasternEquatoria(36.4%,n=4).Payamofficials’responseswererelativelysimilarwith the lowestproportionsofofficials inspecting financial records inWarrap (16.7%,n=1)andEasternEquatoria(46.7%,n=21).Figure16:DutiesofCountyandPayamOfficialsduringSchoolInspectionsandSchoolSupervisionVisitsasreportedbyCountyandPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)

97.8%

83.0%

92.4%

77.5%

85.9%

70.7%

58.0%

69.9%

73.2%

72.1%

56.5%

95.3%

75.0%

95.3%

84.4%

79.7%

75.0%

60.9%

67.2%

81.3%

76.6%

64.1%

Talktotheheadteacher

TalktotheSMC,PTAorBOG

Talktotheteachers

Talktothepupils

Observelessons

Inspectplans

Inspectfinancialrecords

Checknumberoftextbooks

Checkotherlearningmaterials

Checktestresults

CollectdatafortheEMIS



46

Verbal feedback appears to be the most common form of communication between thegovernment officials and schools. Almost all officials reported providing feedback after schoolvisitsasoneoftheirduties.AlmostallCountyandPayamsurvey respondents indicated that theyprovide feedback to schoolsafter inspectionsorsupervisionvisits.Onlyn=2(3.1%)ofCountyofficialsandn=3(1.1%)ofPayamofficialsdidnotknowiftheyprovidedfeedback,andn=1(0.4%)Payamofficialrefusedtoanswer.ResponsessuggestthatCountyvisitsweremorelikelytoresultinwrittenaswellasverbalfeedbackto schools and teachers than Payam visits. Proportionally, County officials fromCentral Equatoriaand Eastern Equatoria provided the lowest responses of written feedback with 33.3% (n=2) and36.4% (n=4) respectively.40 Payam officials from Central Equatoria also provided the lowestproportion of responses forwritten feedbackwith 33.3% (n=14) of respondents compared to thenext lowest response ratesof50.0% (n=3)and59.2% (n=29) fromWarrapandWesternEquatoriarespectively.Equal proportions of government officials reported that they would provide verbal feedback oradvicetoSchoolManagementCommittees,ParentTeacherAssociations,ortheBoardofGovernors.Payamofficial responses indicate that theyaremore likely thanCountyofficials toprovide verbalfeedbacktoheadteachers.Figure17:TypesofFeedbackCountyandPayamOfficialsprovidetoSchoolsafterInspection

40 Note however, the n-values are too low to provide a definite picture of all feedback behaviours.

76.8%

65.6%

72.5%

64.9%

81.3%

65.6%

67.2%

75.0%

Verbalfeedbackoradvicetoteachers

VerbalfeedbackoradvicetoSMC,PTAorBOG

Verbalfeedbackoradvicetoheadteacher

Wriuenreportsenttotheschool



47

4.3.4 Involvement with Schools ThemajorityofCountyofficials(78.1%,n=50)reportedbeinginvolvedinprofessionaldevelopmenteffortsaimedatschoolstaffandcommitteemembers;justoverafifthofrespondents(21.9%,n=14)statedthattheyhadnotorganisedorconductedanytrainingsessions.Relativelysimilarproportionsofrespondentsclaimedtohaveorganisedtrainingforteachers,headteachers, and school committeemembers. Justunder two-thirds (65.6%,n=42)ofCountyofficialsreported to have provided training to Payam school supervisors. This was proportionally mostprevalentinWesternBahrelGhazal(81.8%,n=9)andLakes(77.8%,n=7).Figure18:ProportionofCountyOfficialsinvolvedinOrganisingorConductingProfessionalDevelopmentTraining,byTrainingRecipient,n=64(SouthSudan,September2014)

62.5%

60.9%

62.5%

65.6%

54.7%

3.1%

21.9%

Teachers

Headteachers

PTAs/SMCs/BOGs

Payamschoolsupervisors

CEDstaff

Other

None


48

The most in-demand administrative records are for teacher and student attendance, andexaminationsresults.Intermsofadministrativerecordsrequired,veryfewPayamOfficesreportedneedingteacherandstaff files or records (1.1%, n=3). Rather, the main focus appeared to be on records of teacherattendance (88.4%, n=244), examination results (85.9%, n=237), enrolment and dropout (84.1%,n=232),andlearnerattendance(83.7%,n=231).PayamofficeswiththehighestreportedrequirementsofenrolmentordropoutrecordswerefromLakes,whereby100.0%(n=39)ofPayamofficialsclaimedtorequiresuchinformationfromschools.Officials from Warrap, Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal reported slightly underaverageneedforsuchrecordswith78.4%(n=29),79.6%(n=39),and66.7%(n=4)respectively.Figure19:AdministrativeRecordsthatPayamOfficesRequirefromSchools,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

Payam officials appear to have strong involvement with the schools but not all offices havecomprehensivecopiesofschooldevelopmentplans.OfficialsfromLakesandWarrapreportedthebest practice in SDP records and support to schools and those from Eastern Equatoriawas theworst.Aroundthree-quarters75.4%(n=208)ofPayamofficialsreportedbeinginvolvedwithschoolsinthedevelopmentofschooldevelopmentplans.ThehighestproportionsofofficialswhostatednotbeinginvolvedwerefromCentralEquatoriaandEasternEquatoria,asreportedby52.4%(n=22)and46.7%(n=21) of officials respectively. All respondents from Lakes (100.0%, n=39) and almost all fromNorthern Bahr el Ghazal (96.3%, n=52) claimed to have been involved in developing the plans. Itshould be noted that these are self-reported claims, without verification and may be subject toindividualbias.Justundertwo-thirds (62.7%,n=173)ofPayamofficialsstatedthat theykeptat leastsomeschooldevelopmentplans in theiroffice,but itdidnotappear tobecomprehensivelypractisedandonly29.0% (n=80) of respondents stated that they kept all school development plans. Of theserespondents,thehighestconcentrationswerefromLakes(66.7%,n=26)andWarrap(40.5%,n=15).

83.7%

88.4%

85.9%

54.3%

84.1%

54.7%

63.0%

1.1%

Learnerauendanceregister

Teacherauendanceregister

Examrecords

Pupilfilesorrecords

Recordofenrolmentanddrop-out

Schoolcalendar

Schoolpmetable

Teacherandstafffilesorrecords


49

Over a third (36.2%, n=98) of Payamoffices reportednot keeping records of school developmentplans; themajorityofoffices thatdidnotkeep such recordswere fromEasternEquatoria (57.8%,n=26)andWesternEquatoria(46.9%,n=23).41Figure20:ProportionofPayamofficesthatkeepSDPs,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

Whenaskedtopresenttheschooldevelopmentplanskeptwithintheiroffice,46.4%(n=128)werenot able to do so. The State with the most noticeable inability to produce this document wasNorthernBahrelGhazal,wherebyn=34officialsstatedhavingtheplan,butonlyn=21wereabletoproduceit.Intotal,ofthosethatdidshowenumeratorsthedocument,anaverageof2.4planswereproduced.AsPayamofficialsreportedbeingresponsibleforanaverageof9.3primaryschools(seeSection 4.3.2) this supports the finding of few offices keeping comprehensive records ofdevelopmentplans.The majority (71.0%, n=196) of Payam officials reported being involved in preparing schools forinspection. Of those that reported not being involved (27.2%, n=75), this was most commonamongstEasternEquatorianofficials(51.1%,n=23),followedbyCentralEquatorianofficials(35.7%,n=15).

41 Note that 83.3% of officials from Western Bahr el Ghazal indicated that their offices do not keep SDPs, but as this translates to an n-value of 5, this is not representative of the State; inclusion in-text might be considered misleading

29.0%

33.7%36.2%

All Some None


50

4.4 National and State Policies, Plans, and Strategies in Place 4.4.1 Policy Documents Teachercodesofconduct,jobdescriptions,andtheGeneralEducationAct2013werereportedasthemostprevalenttypesofpolicydocumentsavailableasguidanceforCountyEducationOfficers.EducationalpolicydocumentsdidnotappeartobeconsistentlyorcomprehensivelyheldbyCountyEducationOffices.However,ofthedocumentsthatwereavailabletoguideCountyofficialsintheirwork,jobdescriptionguidelineswerethemostprevalent,citedby76.6%(n=49)ofCountyofficials,followedby teacher codesof conduct (71.9%,n=46), and theGeneral EducationAct2013 (70.3%,n=46).FindingssuggestthattheleastavailabledocumentstoCountyofficialsarethoserelatingtoteacherstandards, guides for schools, and the school inspection framework. Offices with the lowestproportionofresponsestohavingacopyofaschoolinspectionframeworkwerefromWarrap-TwicCounty(25.0%,n=1)andWesternEquatoria(36.4%,n=4),specificallyMaridi,MundriWest,MundriEast and Tambura Counties. No officials from Jonglei, Unity or Upper Nile reported having thisdocument.Figure21:ProportionofCountyofficialswhohaveSpecificDocumentstoGuidetheirWork,asreportedbyCountyOfficialsn=64(SouthSudan,September2014)

All County officials were requested to provide enumerators with copies of the aforementioneddocuments,irrespectiveofwhethertheyhadansweredaffirmativelytohavingeachdocumenttype;thismeans that the base value (n=64) remained the same for both questions allowing for directcomparison of responses. In almost all cases, therewas a difference between those officialswhostatedhavingadocumentandthosewhowereabletoproduceit.Therewasanaveragedifferenceof 9.8 percentage points between officials who claimed to have documents and those able toproducethem.

70.3%

62.5%

76.6%

46.9%

71.9%

37.5%

54.7%

45.3%

GeneralEducaponAct2012

Schoolinspecponguidelinesorhandbook

Jobdescrippon

Schoolinspecponframework

Teachercodeofconduct

Teacherstandards

SchoolDevelopmentPlanningProcess

GuideforSchools


51

The largest discrepancy, of 17.2 percentage points, was between officials claiming to havedocuments outlining job descriptions (76.6%, n=46) and those able to produce this document(59.4%,n=38).OfficialswhowereunabletoprovidedocumentsthattheyclaimedtohaveavailablewerefromYambio,MundriEast,andMundriWestCountiesinWesternEquatoria;fromWauCountyinWesternBahr elGhazal; Tonj East inWarrap; YirolWestCounty in Lakes; and Lafon in EasternEquatoria.The lowestdiscrepancywasbetween thosewho claimed tohave theGeneral EducationAct 2013(70.3%,n=45)andthoseabletoproduceit(64.1%,n=41).An evident anomaly from the figure below regards documents on school inspection frameworkswhereby only 46.9% (n=30) ofofficials stated that they had such a document,while 50.0% (n=32)wereabletoproduceone.CountiesthatexhibitedthisanomalywereYambio,MundriEast,MundriWest, Yirol East, Lafon, Ikotos, Budi, and Kajo Keji. The recurrence of irregularities from certainCountiesinWesternandEasternEquatoriaandLakesisnotableandsuggestscautionininterpretingsuchresponses.Figure22:ProportionofCountyOfficialswhoreportedhavingaSchoolPolicyDocumentcomparedtotheProportionofCountyOfficialswhowereabletopresentthem,asreportedbyCountyOfficialsn=64(SouthSudan,September2014)

64.1%

53.1%

59.4%

50.0%

60.9%

28.1%

42.2%

35.9%

70.3%

62.5%

76.6%

46.9%

71.9%

37.5%

54.7%

45.3%



Jobdescrippon



Teacherstandards


GuideforSchools

Documentsreportedasavailable Documentsshowntoresearchers


52

Payam officials appear to have low levels of policy guidance overall; themost commonly helddocuments were regarding codes of conduct for the teachers and the least commonly helddocumentsrelatedtoteacherstandards.PayamofficialresponsessuggestthattheyhavelittleinthewayofpolicyguidanceandcomparedtoCounty officials, proportionally fewer Payam officials reported having copies of each documentmentioned. On average, there is a 19.3 percentage point difference between Payam and Countyofficialswhohavetherelevantpolicydocumentsavailable to them.Thedocumentreportedtobemost significantly lacking among Payam officials compared to County officials is the GeneralEducationAct 2013,with a 46.4 percentage point difference in access as 70.3% (n=46) of Countyofficialsreportedhavingthedocumentcomparedto23.9%(n=66)ofPayamofficials.ThemostcommonlyciteddocumentavailabletoPayamofficialswasonteachercodesofconduct,reportedly held by 63.0% (n=174) officials. It appeared to bemost prevalent amongst officials inLakes (84.6%,n=33),NorthernBahrelGhazal (72.2%,n=39)andWesternBahrelGhazal (100.0%,n=6). The least commonly held document appears to be teacher standard guidelines, with only19.9% (n=55) of officials reporting to have this. This deficitwas visible across all States, butmostnoticeably in Northern Bahr el Ghazal (9.3%, n=5), Western Equatoria (14.3%, n=7), and EasternEquatoria(15.6%,n=7).Despitethree-quarters(75.4%,n=208)ofPayamofficialsreportingtobeininvolvedinthecreationofschooldevelopmentplans(asnotedintheprevioussection),relativelylowproportionsofofficialsreportedhavinganyguidelinesontheplanningprocess(42.0%,n=116).OfficialsfromWesternandEasternEquatoriaappearedtobetheleastlikelytohavethisdocumentwithonlyaroundafifthofaffirmativeresponsesfromeachState(20.4%,n=20and20.0%,n=9respectively).Figure23:ProportionofPayamofficialswhohavetheFollowingDocumentstoGuidetheirWork,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

WhenPayamofficialswereaskedtoshowresearchersthedocumentsinquestion,notallwereabletodoso.Thegreatestdiscrepancieswere foundbetweenofficialswhoclaimedtohaveguidelines

9.8%

6.2%

23.9%

42.4%

48.2%

44.9%

63.0%

19.9%

42.0%

26.8%

Don'tknow

Didnotanswer



Jobdescrippon



Teacherstandards


GuideforSchools


53

forschoolinspectionsandschooldevelopmentplans.Inn=14Counties,Payamofficialswhoclaimedtohaveguidelinesforschooldevelopmentplanningwerenotabletoproducethem.42Thereasonswhythedocumentscouldnotbeproducedarenotclearandthesediscrepanciesdonotnecessarilyindicatethatofficialswerebeingdishonest,althoughsuchfindingsdowarnagainsttakingreportedclaims as fact. In n=2 cases officials inMvolo andCuiebet Countieswho claimednot to have thisdocument, were in fact able to produce it when asked indicating some unreliability in Payamofficials’responses.Similarly,inn=18cases,officialswhoclaimedtohaveschoolinspectionframeworkdocumentswerenot able to produce them43 while in n=6 cases, Payam officials who reported not having thisdocumentwerenonethelessabletoproduceitwhenasked.ThiswasthecaseforPayamofficialsinLainya,Ikotos,KapoetaEast,AweilCentre,GogrialEast,andTwicCounties.Figure24:ProportionofPayamOfficialswhoclaimedtohavethefollowingDocumentscomparedtoProportionswhowereabletoProducethemtoResearchers,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

42 This was the case for Payams in the following Counties: Yambio and Tambura (Western Equatoria); Tonj South and Gogrial East (Warrap); Aweil Town, Aweil Centre, and Aweil East (Western Bahr el Ghazal); Rumbek East (Lakes); Torit, Magwi, and Ikotos (Eastern Equatoria); Yei River, Terekeka, and Kajo-Keji (Central Equatoria) 43 This was the case for Payams in the following Counties: Yambio, Mvolo, Mundri East, Mundri West, Maridi (Western Equatoria); Tonj South and Gogrial West (Warrap); Aweil Town and Aweil East (Western Bahr el Ghazal); Yirol East, Wulu, Rumbek East, Cueibet (Lakes); Bor (Jonglei); Kapoeta South (Eastern Equatoria); Morobo, Kajo-Keji, and Juba (Central Equatoria)

5.4%

9.1%

10.1%

21.4%

37.0%

42.4%

35.1%

57.2%

13.8%

32.6%

18.8%

9.8%

6.2%

23.9%

42.4%

48.2%

44.9%

63.0%

19.9%

42.0%

26.8%

Notstated

Don'tknow

Didnotanswer



Jobdescrippon



Teacherstandards


GuideforSchools

Documentsreportedasavailable Documentsshowntoresearchers


54

4.5 Communication between County and Payam Offices There appears to be relatively high, if slightly inconsistent, levels of communication betweenofficesprecedingaschoolinspection.Inmostcases(89.1%,n=57),CountyofficialsclaimedthattheyinformedPayamEducationOfficersinadvance when an inspection was due to take place in their school in 2013. Those who did notprovide advancewarningwere from Eastern Equatoria (27.3%, n=3) from Budi, Ikotos, and LafonCounty offices;Warrap (50.0%, n=2), Tonj North and Tonj South County offices;Western Bahr elGhazal(9.1%,n=1),WauCountyoffice;andUnity(100.0%,n=1),RuwengCountyoffice.On average, Payam officials reported that 4.6 schools in their Payam received inspections fromCounty or State inspectors in 2013, and preceding such inspections, 75.3% (n= 208) of Payamofficials reported receiving some kind of advance warning from County officials. This is 13.8percentagepointslowerthanthelevelofadvancenoticeCountyofficialsindicated,howeveritisnotwildlydifferent.OfPayamofficialswhodidnotereceivingadvancenoticeof inspections, two-fifths (40.2%,n=111)saidthatthey‘Always’receivedwarningfromCountyofficials,while35.1%(n=97)statedthattheyreceivedwarningonly‘Sometimes’.Thosewho‘Never’receivedadvancenoticewerepredominantlyfrom Eastern Equatoria (44.4%, n=20), followed byWestern Equatoria (26.5%, n=13) andWarrap(27.0%,n=10).Figure25:ProportionofPayamOfficialswhoreportedreceivingAdvanceNoticefromCountyOfficialsbeforeaCountyorStateInspection,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

Although 75.3% (n= 208) of Payam officials reported receiving prior notice of school inspections,80.1%(n=221and4.8percentagepointsmorethanPayamresponses)reportedlysendinformationof impending State or County inspections to the schools under their authority. In n=19 Counties,Payam officials who reported ‘Never’ receiving advance notice of inspections from Countyauthorities,nonethelessreportedbeingabletoprovideschoolswithadvancenoticeofanupcominginspection. This suggests either that respondent answers are unreliable or that Payam officialsreceiveinformationaboutinspectionsfromsourcesotherthanCountyEducationoffice.The frequency of information sent from Payam Education Offices to County Education Officesappearstobemainlybiannualormore.WhenaskedifinformationwassentfromPayamofficestoCountyEducationofficesbeforeaschoolvisit,responsesfromPayamandCountyEducationOfficialsroughlycorrespondedtoeachother.ThemajorityofPayamofficials80.1%(n=221)reportedsendingschoolinformation,while85.9%(n=55)ofCountyofficialsreportedreceivingsuchinformation.

40.2%

35.1%

21.7%

Always Somepmes Never


55

Most Payam officials (85.1%, n=235) claimed to send school progress reports to their CountyEducationDepartmenttwiceayearormore.Then=1respondentwhoclaimed‘Never’tosendsucha report was from Kapoeta East County in Eastern Equatoria. Of those who reported sendingprogress reports only every two to four years (5.4%, n=15), the highest proportions were fromNorthernBahrelGhazal(13.0%,n=7)andWesternEquatoria(8.2%,n=4),althoughtherewerealson=2respondentsfromCentralEquatoria(4.8%)andLakes(5.1%)each.The most important data required from Payam Education offices are related to attendance,enrolmentanddropout;theleastimportantweretheneedforPayamEducationOfficeaccountsandschoolfinancialrecords.According to Payam Education Officials, the most required information by County EducationDepartmentsaredataonteacherattendanceandpupilenrolmentanddropout,reportedby88.8%(n=245) Payam survey respondents. Next in importance appears to be the records of schoolsupervisionvisits,reportedtoberequiredby84.4%(n=233)ofPayamofficials.Theleastimportantneeds,accordingtoPayamofficials,werePayamEducationOfficeaccountswithonly 9.4% (n=26) of respondents stating this as ‘required’.Officialswhodid cite this as necessarywerepredominantly fromLakes,with25.6%(n=10)ofresponsesfromPayamEducationofficers inthisState.SchoolaccountinformationandPayamEducationOffice(PEO)budgetswereregardedassimilarlylowprioritywith39.1%(n=108)and43.1%(n=119)ofresponsesrespectively.OfficialsfromLakesagainstoodoutasgivingaboveaverageprecedencetothesefinancial recordsthanthose inotherStates,with82.1% (n=32) reporting sendingSchoolaccountsasnecessaryand46.2% (n=18)reporting PEO budgets as necessary. By contrast, only 14.3% (n=7) of officials from WesternEquatoriafeltthatPEObudgetswererequiredbytheirCountyEducationDepartment.Figure26:TypesofreportsPayamOfficialsarerequiredtosendtoCountyEducationDepartments,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

MostCountyEducationOfficials (67.2%,n=43) reported receiving SchoolMonitoringReportsonabiannualormorebasis fromPEOs,while17.2% (n=11) reported receiving themonlyevery two tofour years. The 4.7% (n=3) who reported to ‘Never’ receive such reports were from EasternEquatoria.

84.4%

55.4%

88.8%

88.0%

74.6%

60.5%

43.1%

39.1%

9.4%

Recordofschoolsupervisionvisits

Minutesofmeepngswithschools

Dataonteacherauendance

Dataonpupilenrolmentanddrop-out

Dataonpupilauendance

Schoolbudgets

PEObudgets

Schoolaccounts

PEOaccounts


56

4.6 Challenges and Enabling Factors for the Delivery of and Access to Quality Education

4.6.1 Means to Improve Teaching Quality Themostcommonmeansofsupporttoteachers is through lessonobservationsfromarangeofactors.PEOs indicated that themost commonmeans for teachers to improve their teachingwas throughlesson observations by Payam supervisors, as cited by 78.3% (n=216), as well as throughobservationsbyheadteachers(68.5%,n=189).Peerobservationsfromotherteacherswascitedlessfrequently,byjustunderathirdofPEOs(32.6%,n=90)andobservationsbytheSchoolManagementCommitteeorParentTeacherAssociationwerecitedbyjustoverathird(34.8%,n=96)ofPEOs.Analysinglinksbetweenteachingpracticeandexaminationresultswascitedbyaroundhalf(51.8%,n=143)ofPEOs,particularly those fromEasternEquatoria (68.9%,n=31)and Lakes (56.4%,n=22).Moreactivesupportthroughlanguagetrainingorotherworkshopswasnotincludedintheresponseoptionsmeaning that the current picture shows that themost common resource for teachers isthroughsupportfrominternalschoolpersonnel.Figure27:MeansofTeachersgettinghelptoimprovetheQualityoftheirTeaching,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)44

Prolongedteacherabsencesaremostlikelytobetreatedwithdisciplinarywarningsandinternalmeetings; themost severe consequencesof contract terminationor financialpunishmentsweremostlikelytobeimposedbyofficialsfromLakesorNorthernBahrelGhazal.Ifateacherisabsentforalongperiod,specifiedasbeinglongerthantwoweeks,97.8%(n=270)ofPEOsstatedthattheschoolinformsthemoftheabsence.The2.2%(n=6)whostatedthattheywerenotinformedbyschoolsoflengthyteacherabsencewerefromJubaCounty(CentralEquatoria);BudiandKapoetaNorthCounties(EasternEquatoria);andEzoandMaridiCounties(WesternEquatoria).This suggests either that schools in these areas are not following protocol satisfactorily or that

44 Note that 6.2% (n=17) responded that they ‘did not know’ and 0.4% (n=1) did not answer the question.

23.9%

26.4%

68.5%

32.6%

78.3%

34.8%

51.8%

52.5%

Annualappraisalprocess

Termlyappraisalprocess

Lessonobservaponsbyheadteacher

Lessonobservaponsbyotherteachers

LessonobservaponsbyPayamsupervisors

LessonobservaponsbySMC/PTA

Analysisofexamresults

Approvalofschemesofwork


57

Payamofficesintheseareashavenotbeenrigorouslyoverseeingschoolsundertheiradministrationbyensuringschoolsareawareofalltheirdutiesandbyenforcingadherencetothem.Ifateacherisfoundtohavebeenabsentforalongperiod,mostPayamofficialsindicatethattheywould first instigate some means of communication with the teacher, either in the form of adisciplinary letter, stated by 71.5% (n=193) of Payamofficials, or through ameeting between theteacherandtheirheadteacherorSMC,asstatedby68.5%(n=185)ofrespondents.ItappearsalesscommonfirstactionforPayamOfficialstomeettheteacherinquestion,althougharoundtwo-thirds(58.1%,n=157)ofrespondentsindicatedtheywoulddothisfirst.More extreme action in the form of terminating the teacher’s contract or imposing financialpunishments were less commonly cited. Stopping the teacher’s salary was expressed by 24.4%(n=66)respondentsastheirfirststageofaction,mostnotablyfromWesternBahrelGhazal(83.3%,n=5)andNorthernBahrelGhazal (46.3%,n=25). Justovera fifth (22.2%,n=60)ofPayamofficialsstatedthattheteacherwouldbemovedtoanotherschool;thisactionwasmostcommonlycitedbyrespondentsfromNorthernBahrelGhazal(31.5%,n=17)andLakes(41.0%,n=16).Fewrespondents(8.1%, n=22) stated that the teacherwould lose their job; but again, respondents fromNorthernBahrelGhazalandLakesweremostpronetocitethissevereconsequence(16.7%,n=9and10.3%,n=4respectively).4.6.2 Protective Structures for Children Findingssuggest thatcasesof inappropriate relationsbetweentheteachersandstudentswouldbetakenseriouslybytheschoolsandthegovernmentofficials.ThevastmajorityofPayamofficials(98.9%,n=273)statedthatsomeformofactionwouldbetakenifinappropriaterelationstookplacebetweenateacherandlearner.45Mostresponsesindicatethataction would be taken seriously and would be handled by external non-school actors such asgovernment officials, community leaders, or the police. Just under half (48.2%, n=133) of Payamofficials felt that the case would be referred to Payam or County Education office; officials fromNorthern Bahr el Ghazal expressed above average responses for this option (63.0%, n=34) as didthosefromCentralEquatoria(54.8%,n=23)andWesternEquatoria(53.1%,n=26)toalesserextent.ItispossiblethattheemphasisonGovernmentofficeinvolvementintheseStatesisanindicationofhigher general levelsof governmenteducationofficial participationandhigher self-perceptionsofcapabilitytodealwithsuchissuesintheseStates.SuchasituationinNorthernBahrelGhazalandWesternBahrelGhazalwouldappearmorelikelytoinvolvetraditionalleadersandlesslikelytoinvolvethepolicethananyotherState.ReferringthecasetotheChieforcommunity leaderwasnotcitedbyanyrespondentsfromLakesandbyonly4.8%(n=2)ofthosefromCentralEquatoriaand6.7%(n=3)fromEasternEquatoria.Thisiscomparedto83.3%(n=5)oftheofficialscitingthisreferralfromWesternBahrelGhazaland27.8%(n=15) fromNorthern Bahr el Ghazal, suggesting that the influence of traditional leaders ismostpervasiveintheseStates.Police involvementwas reportedmost prominently byofficials in Central Equatoria (33.3%, n=14)butwasnotmentionedatallbythosefromNorthernorWesternBahrelGhazal.ThelatterfindingcorrelatessomewhattothehigherlevelsoftraditionalleaderinvolvementintheseStates.

45 While only n=1 (0.4%) respondent stated that no action would be taken, n=1 (0.4%) stated that they ‘did not know’ what would happen and n=1 (0.4%) did not answer the question.


58

Officials fromLakes indicated that cases in this Statewouldmost commonlybedealtwithby theschoolmanagement,ascitedby59.0%(n=23)ofPayamofficialsinCueibet,RumbekCentre,RumbekEast,RumbekNorth,andYirolEastCounties.Figure28:MostLikelyConsequencesofInappropriateRelationsbetweenTeacherandLearner,asreportedbyPayamOfficials(SouthSudan,September2014)

The least severe consequences for teachers were reported by officials from Northern Bahr elGhazalandLakesStates.When asked the consequences for teachers involved in appropriate relations with students, allofficialsstatedthatsomeactionwouldbetaken.Two-fifths(41.7%,n=115)statedthattheywouldbe banned from teaching at any school. Proportionally similar levels of responses were providedacrossallStatesexcludingLakesandNorthernBahrelGhazal,whereproportionally fewerofficialsfelt that teacherswould face this action (15.4%,n=6 responses fromLakesand25.9%,n=14 fromNorthernBahrelGhazal).In these States, the more commonly reported course of action would be temporary suspensionbeforereturningtoschool,citedby44.4%(n=24)ofofficialsfromNorthernBahrelGhazal,orissuingawarningtotheteacher,citedby46.2%(n=18)ofofficialsfromLakes.Findings fromPayamOfficial responses suggest thatwhile students involved in sucha situationwould be able to carry on at school for themost part, butwould not necessarily receive extrasupportsuchaspsychosocialsupport.Half (50.0%,n=138)ofPayamofficials surveyedreportedthatstudents foundtobe involved inaninappropriate relation with a teacher would be allowed to continue at school, and would beprovided with extra support by the school. However, 27.2% (n=75) of officials stated that whilestudentswouldcontinueatschool,theywouldnotreceiveanyextrasupport.In17.4%(n=48)ofcases,officialsstatedthatthestudentwouldleavetheschool;thewordingofthequestiondoesnot specifywhether the studentwould leaveof theirownwill, or if theywouldbeencouraged to leave by the school. Marriage of the student and teacher was a consequencereported by officials in Northern Bahr el Ghazal (7.4%, n=4), Eastern Equatoria (6.7%, n=3) andCentralEquatoria(2.4%,n=1)only.According to Payam officials surveyed, 76.4% (n=211) denied that any teachers were accused ofhavinganinappropriaterelationshipwithalearneratanyoftheschoolsintheirpayamin2013.Of

48.2%

15.2%

10.1%

25.4%

0.4%

ThecasewouldbereferredtothePayamorCountyEducaponOffice

ThecasewouldbereferredtotheChieforothercommunityleader

Thecasewouldbereferredtothepolice

Thecasewouldbedealtwithbyschoolmanagement

Noacponwouldbetaken


59

those that affirmed that accusations had beenmade (22.5%, n=62), therewas a relatively similarproportional spread across the States.46 Accusations noted by officials in Central and WesternEquatoriawereslightlyabovethisaverage,with28.6%(n=12)ofPayamofficersinKajo-Keji,Lainya,Terekeka,andYeiRiverCountiesreportingsuchincidentsin2013aswellas24.5%(n=12)intheEzo,Maridi,MundriEast,MundriWest,Nazara,TamburaandMvoloCounties.4.6.3 Support for School Management School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations appear to be far moreprevalent than Boards of Governors, which correlates to findings from the GESS School SurveyconductedinAugust2014.Onaverage,9.1 schools ineachof the surveyedofficial’sPayamswere reported tohavea SchoolManagementCommittee(SMC).47Aminority(6.5%,n=18)reportedthatnoschools intheirpayamhaveanSMC, and theseofficialsweremainly fromEasternEquatoria, 31.1% (n=14)of all EasternEquatorianrespondentsand77.8%(n=14)ofall respondentswhoreportedschools in theirPayamhavingzeroSMCs.Payam officials reported that on average, 10.3 schools in their Payam have Parent TeacherAssociations (PTA).48Onlyn=1 (0.4%) respondentstated thatnoschools in theirPayamhadaPTAandhewasfromWuluCountyinLakesState.Far fewer officials reported that schools in their Payam have a Board of Governors (BOG) –consistentwiththeprevailingdoctrinethatBoardsofGovernorsarethepropergovernanceformforSecondarySchools.Assuch,anaverageof0.8schoolsreportedlyhaveaBOG49while30.4%(n=84)ofofficials reported no school in their Payam having one. Disaggregated further, 51.1% (n=23) ofofficialsfromEasternEquatoriareportedthatnoBOGswereformedforschoolsintheirPayam.Payameducationofficialsdidnotreportbeingoverlyinvolvedinschool-relatedcommitteeswithjustunderathird(30.15,n=83)reportingtobeamemberofanSMC,PTA,orBOGinanyoftheschoolsundertheirsupervision.ThelowestlevelsofPayamofficialparticipationwerefoundtobeinCentralEquatoria (19.0%,n=8),NorthernBahrelGhazal (22.2%,n=12)andWesternBahrelGhazal (0.0%,n=0).Of thoseofficialswhodid report being involved in a school-related committee, an averageof 4.0werefoundtobelongtodifferentcommittees.SMCs,PTAs,andBOGsappeartohaveawiderangeofresponsibilitiesandhaveanimportantroleinsupportingschoolsthroughcommunicationandmonitoringactivities.According to Payam officials, the key responsibilities of school-related committees are tocommunicateinformationaboutschoolstofamiliesofstudentsandthecommunity,citedby81.9%(n=226) of officials surveyed, as well as to monitor the enrolment, attendance and dropout oflearners(citedby80.1%,n=221),andsupportschools’financialmanagement(78.6%,n=217).Their responsibilities appear to be closely linkedmonitoring student and teacher attendancewithslightlylessemphasisonmoredirectsupporttostudents.46 Across all States excluding Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile 47 This average excludes n=1 response of n=338 schools in one Payam that reportedly has an SMC as well as n=2 respondents who did not answer, n=3 respondents who ‘did not know’ and n=8 undefined responses. 48 This average excludes n=2 unrealistic responses of n=132 and n=286 schools per Payam with a PTA. In addition it excludes n=2 respondents who did not answer, n=2 who ‘did not know’ and n=12 undefined responses. 49 This excludes n=9 responses of ‘don’t know’


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Ingeneral,Payamofficialsagreedthatcommunicatinginformationaboutthecommunitytoschoolswastheleastofcommitteemembers’duties.Figure29:ResponsibilitiesofSMC,PTA,andBOGasreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

4.6.4 Financial Matter Support Available to Schools Payam Education Offices appear to have mixed levels of involvement in school financialmanagement;thereareindicationsthatPayamofficialsarenotconsistentlyawareoftheiroffice’sdutiestowardtheschoolsundertheirsupervision.SupportonfinancialmattersfromPayamEducationOfficestoschoolswasmeasuredbythelevelofPEO involvement in approving school financial records, creating budgets, and approving schoolaccounts. The figure below suggests that PEOs play a relativelyminimal role in approving schoolfinancialrecords.Theareainwhichofficialsappeartobemostactiveisinapprovingschoolfinancereports(48.6%,n=134).Figure30:SchoolfinancialrecordsapprovedofbyPayamEducationOffices,asreportedbyPayamOfficialsn=276(SouthSudan,September2014)

78.6%

62.0%

68.5%

67.8%

76.1%

80.1%

69.9%

57.6%

81.9%

13.8%

67.4%

Financialmanagement

Fundraising

Volunteerteacherrecruitment

Supporttoteachers

Monitoringauendanceofteachers

Monitoringenrolment,auendanceanddrop-outoflearners

Monitoringlearningoutcomes

Supporttolearners

Communicaponabouttheschooltofamiliesorthecommunity

Communicaponaboutthecommunitytotheschool

Planningforschooldevelopment

38.8%

29.7%

48.6%

18.8%

32.6%

26.8%

26.4%

42.4%

Bookofincomeandexpenditureaccount

Cashbook

Financereports

Monthlybankstatements

Operaponalbudget

Paymentvouchers

Receiptbook

Recordofparentcontribuponsorfees


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Themajority(88.4%,n=244)ofPayamEducationofficialsclaimthattheirofficesareresponsibleforhelping schools develop their budgets. The 10.5% (n=29) who say they are not responsible weremainlyfromCentralEquatoria(38.1%,n=16).Asimilar,albeitslightlylower,proportionofrespondents(80.8%,n=223)reportedthattheirofficeisrequiredtoapprovetheschoolbudget.AthirdofofficialsfromWesternBahrelGhazal(33.3%,n=2),justunderathirdfromCentralEquatoriaandWarrap(31.0%,n=13and27.0%,n=10)didnotthinkthattheirofficewasrequiredtoapproveschoolbudgets.Fewer Payam officials (64.5% (n=178) reported their office as responsible for approving schoolaccounts. No official from Western Bahr el Ghazal reported being required to approve schoolaccountscomparedto94.9%(n=37)ofthosefromNorthernBahrelGhazalwhoclearlysawthisisanimportantdutyfortheiroffice.Thefieldworkwascarriedoutbeforesignificantchangesintheeducationsystemin2014,notablytheintroductionofschoolcapitationgrants,whichhaveplacedsignificantlymorefundsinthehandsofschoolsthantheypreviouslyhad.ThishasentailednewandincreasedresponsibilitiesforPayamand County Education officials. This report therefore shows a relatively “clean” baseline, as theresearchwascompletedbeforetheroll-outofrelevanttrainings.


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5 Conclusions Skills, Experience, Qualifications CountyofficialsappearedtohavebetterskillsandqualificationsthanPayamofficials.Theyhadbeeneducatedtohigher levels,hadheldhigherrankingpositionswithintheirteachingcareers,andhadhigherreportedlevelsofEnglishandcomputerproficiency.CountyEducationOfficeswerereportedto be better equipped than Payam EducationOfficeswith proportionallymore desks, computers,andprintingfacilities.However,reportsfrombothCountyandPayamofficialswerecharacterisedbypoor overall working environments with exceptionally low supplies of electricity and insufficientgeneratorbackup.Communicationandcoordinationbetweenofficeswouldappeartobeconstrainedbylowlevelsoftelephone and internet access. It is possible that officials are able to circumvent institutionalshortagesofoffice telephones through theuseofpersonalmobilephones. If this is the case, it islikely that officials are expected to pay for their own air-time, despite being used for officialpurposes. This is problematic and further investigation on this point should ascertain the exactcommunication needs gapwithin offices and steps should be taken to improve it. In the interimstage,itmaybeworthconsideringfinancialcompensationsorstipendsformobilephoneair-time.Knowledge and Awareness of Schools Therewere strong indications that Government officialswere not fully aware of the context andsituationofnon-Governmentschoolswithintheiradministrativejurisdiction.Thereappearedtobemanygapsinknowledgeoffaith-based,community,private,andotherschoolsintheirCountiesandPayams.Forexample,thenumberof ‘undefined’orblankresponses increasedproportionatelythemore unorthodox the school in question and differences were also found between County andPayamlevelresponsesofnumberoffaith-basedschoolsatCountylevel.Thissuggestsinaccuracyonthepartofat leastonepartybut itmightalso indicate thatCountyofficialsare lessawareof thesmaller, non-mainstream details on the ground. This could be due to difficulties in receivingcommunicationonschoolsforthereasonsnotedabove,orduetodifficultiesinaccessingschools.Access Followingonfromtheabovepoint,Countyofficialsreportedhavingtotravelsignificantdistancestoreach the furthest schools in their County.Highproportionsof all officials reportedhaving tousepersonalorpublicmeansoftransporttovisitschoolsasofficialvehicleswerenotavailable.Payamofficials reported having the least access to official Government transport, although it should benotedthattheirdistancesareshorterthanthoserequiredbyCountyofficials.Overall,distanceandshortage of transport means should be considered a constraint in officials being able to accessschools.Duties and Responsibilities BothCountyandPayamofficialsdemonstratedweaknesses in collectingEMISdataand inspectingschoolfinancialrecords.ThepatternofreportedperformanceofdutiesbyofficialsbyStatewasatvariancewiththeobservedperformanceoftheeducationsysteminthoseStates.Thus,officialsfromCentral Equatoria reported providing the lowest proportions of feedback (written and verbal) toschoolsafterinspection.RespondentsfromLakesappearedtoprovidethemostpositiveexamplesofgoodpracticeintermsofhighresponseratesacknowledgingtheneedtocollectschoolattendanceanddropoutdata,involvementindevelopingschooldevelopmentplans(SDP),holdingcopiesofSDPintheiroffices,andbeingabletoproducethesecopiesondemand.Conversely, respondents from Eastern Equatoria performed below expectation on the abovematters. Officials from this State consistently reported lower than average response rates for


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involvementwithschools.WesternEquatoria respondentsalsoprovidedsurprisingly lowresponserates,andwhere irregularitieswere found in thedatasuchasgreaternumbersofofficialsable toproduce documents than had cited having them, they were invariably from Central or WesternEquatoria.Suchfindingscastsomedoubtoverthereliabilityoftheoverallaccuracyoftheresponsesprovided,andmaysuggestaninclinationtoembellishedresponses.Officials from Lakes reported providing the highest levels of support to teachers beyondobservationsandalsoreportedhavingmorepolicyguidancedocumentsthanthosefromanyotherState. On this point, all officials would benefit from having greater access to all documentsmentioned in the survey,notably those relating to theplanningprocessof SDPs, jobdescriptions,andschool inspectionguidelines.Thenotableabsenceofthesedocuments,asreportedseparatelyby County and Payam officials, calls into question how thoroughly officials have been able toperform their roles and duties thus far andwhether there is a common understanding across alleducationofficesregardingthese.County officials from Eastern Equatoria reported providing the lowest levels of advance notice toPayamofficialsbeforean inspection.Communicationonthis frontrequiresoverall improvement–bothfromCountyofficestoPayamoffices,andfromPayamofficestotheschools.State level differences Asalludedtoabove,findingsfromCentral,Eastern,andWesternEquatoriawereoftensurprisinglybelowexpectationswhile Lakesdemonstrated surprisingly better indicationsof goodpractice andefficiency.WithoutwishingtodiminishthepositivefindingsonbehalfofLakesofficials,itwouldbeworth considering the possibility of these respondents over-embellishing or tweaking theirresponsestoamorepositive lightwhilethosefromtheEquatoriasmayhavebeenprovidingmorerealisticortruthfulanswers,whichappearworsebytheinflatedcomparativebase.Findings from respondents from Lakes andNorthern Bahr elGhazal suggest that schools in theseStates are most likely to provide the lightest punitive measures toward teachers accused ofinappropriatebehaviour towards their students andprovide the least support for students.Whilemost officials across all States reported that schools would report the case to a GovernmentEducationOffice,ofthosewhocitedtheywouldinvolvetraditionalrecoursessuchasreferralstotheChief of community leaders, most were from Lakes or Northern Bahr el Ghazal. This infers thattraditionalstructuresarestrongerthanpoliceinfluenceintheseareasandreinforcesfindingsfromtheHouseholdandSchoolSurveyReportsthatfoundtheseStatestobethemosttraditionalintermsofattitudesandbehaviour.Financial Support More support is needed fromGovernment officials toward the financialmanagement of schools.While Payam Education Offices appear to have mixed levels of involvement in school financialmanagement,thereareindicationsthatPayamofficialsarenotawareoftheiroffice’sdutiestowardtheschoolsundertheirsupervision.LevelsofPayamofficialresponsibilitytowardbeinginvolvedinschoolaccountsappearstobelow.


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6 Appendix 6.1 Quantitative County Survey Name Label

C_0.1_GPS CollectGPScoordinates

C_0.2_start Startdateandtimeoftheinterview

C_0.3_end Enddateandtimeoftheinterview

C_0.4_deviceID IMEIC_1_before 1.CompletebeforetheinterviewC_1.1 1.1Nameofresearcherstate_county_payamC_1.3_school 1.3Telephone/emailaddressoftheCEDC_1.4 1.4HowmanyKMistheCEDofficefromtheStatecapital?C_1.5 1.5Istherespondentmaleorfemale? C_Read_consent ReadatthestartoftheinterviewC_consent_statement "Mynameis[xx].IamdoingsomeresearchfortheMinistryofEducationGirls’Education

SouthSudanprogramme.Iworkfor[xx].Wearedoingsomeresearchinschools,PayamEducationOfficesandCountyEducationDepartmentsacrossSouthSudan.IwouldliketoasksomequestionsaboutCountyEducationDepartmentandaboutyourrole.ThepurposeoftheresearchistofindoutmoreaboutwhatishappeningintheeducationsystemacrossSouth Sudan.The survey is not for testing, judging or assessing offices or individuals. It is not aninspection or supervision visit. Your answers will be confidential and nobody but theresearchers will know what individuals have said. You will not find out what individualteachersorlearnershavesaid.Theresearchwillpulltogetherresultsacrossthestateandcountryandaverageortotalfigureswillbeshared.Itwillhelpthegovernmenttoimproveschools.You are entitled to refuse to answer any questions or stop the survey at any time. Thissurveyshouldtakeapproximately1hour."

C_consent Areyouhappytogoaheadwiththesurvey? C_2 2.AboutyouC_2.1 2.1Whatisyourname?C_2.2 2.2Whatisyourdateofbirth?C_2.3 2.3Whatisyourjobtitle?C_2.4 2.4Whatisyourmothertonguelanguage?C_2.4_other Pleasespecify:C_2.5 2.5Whichlanguagescanyouspeak?Selectallthatapply.C_2.6_language 2.6Pleaserateyourabilityinreadingandwritinginthefollowinglanguagesfrom1-5(1is

noabilityand5isveryhighability).C_2.6a ArabicC_2.6b EnglishC_2.6c Swahili C_2.7 2.7Whatkindofcontractdoyouhave?


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C_2.8 2.8Howmanyyearshaveyoubeeninyourcurrentrole?C_2.9 2.9HowmanyyearshaveyoubeenworkingatthisCountyoffice,intotal?C_2.10 2.10Howmanydaysofprofessionaldevelopmenttrainingdidyouparticipatein2013?C_2.11 2.11Howmanystudyvisitsdidyouparticipatein2013C_2.12 2.12Whichofthefollowingqualificationsdoyouhave?Selectallthatapply.C_2.13 2.13Haveyoubeenaccreditedasaschoolinspector?C_2.14 2.14Whoissuedtheaccreditation?C_2.15 2.15Canyouuseacomputer?Pleaserateyourabilityfrom1-5(1isnoabilityand5isvery

highability).C_2.16 2.16Canyouuseamobilephone?Pleaserateyourabilityfrom1-5(1isnoabilityand5is

veryhighability).C_2.17 2.17Haveyoueverbeenateacherinaschool?C_2.18 2.18Whatleveldidyouteach?Selectallthatapply.C_2.19 2.19Forhowmanyyearsintotaldidyouteachinschools?C_2.20 2.20Haveyoueverbeenaheadteacherinaschool?C_2.21 2.21Forhowmanyyearsintotalwereyouaheadteacher?C_2.22 2.22Whatwasthenameofthelastschoolyouworkedin?C_2.23 2.23Whatwasthenameofthelastschoolyouworkedin?C_2.24 2.24 Have you ever been a Payam Education Supervisor, Payam Education Officer or

PayamSchoolSupervisor?C_2.25 2.25ForhowmanyyearsintotalwereyouaPayamEducationSupervisor?C_2.26 2.26WhatwasthenameofthelastPayamyouworkedin? C_3 AbouttheCEDC_3.1 3.1HowmanyeducationstaffarethereinthisCEDintotal?C_3.2 3.2HowmanyschoolinspectorsarethereinthisCED?C_3.3 3.3WhichofthefollowingfacilitiesdoesPayamofficehave?C_3.4 3.4DoesPayamofficehaveabankaccount? C_4 WorkofCountyEducationDepartmentC_4.1 4.1Doyouhaveacopyofanyofthefollowingdocumentstoguideyourwork?Selectall

thatapply.C_4.2 4.2CanIseethem?C_4.3 4.3Howmanyschoolsdidyouvisitforanofficialinspectionin2013?C_4.4 4.4Whatdoyoudoduringaschoolinspectionvisit?SelectallthatapplyC_4.5 4.5Doyouprovidetheschoolwithfeedbackduringoraftertheschoolinspection?Select

allthatapplyC_4.6 4.6Wereyou involved inorganisingorconductingprofessionaldevelopmenttraining for

anyofthefollowingin2013?SelectallthatapplyC_4.6_other Pleasespecify: C_5 RelationshipwithPayamEducationOfficeC_5.1 5.1Did you inform thePEO in advancewhenan inspection is due to takeplace in their

schoolin2013?C_5.2 5.2DidPEOssendinformationaboutschoolstotheinspectionteampriortoschoolvisits?C_5.3 5.3Onaverage,howoftendoPEOssendreportsonschoolmonitoringvisits? C_6 6.AboutschoolsinthisCountyC_6.1 6.1HowmanyprimaryschoolsarethereinthisCounty,bytype?


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C_6.1a GovernmentC_6.1b CommunityC_6.1c Faith-based(churchschoolormosqueschool)C_6.1d PrivateproprietorC_6.1e OtherC_6.1_other Pleasespecifyothertypes C_6.2 6.2HowmanysecondaryschoolsarethereinthisCounty,bytype?C_6.2a GovernmentC_6.2b CommunityC_6.2c Faith-based(churchschoolormosqueschool)C_6.2d PrivateproprietorC_6.2e OtherC_6.2_other Pleasespecifyothertypes C_6.3 6.3HowfaristhemostdistantschoolfromCEDHQ?(KM)C_6.4 6.4HowfaristheclosestschoolfromCEDHQ?(KM)C_6.5 6.5Whatmodeoftransportdoyouusetovisitschools?(selectallthatapply)


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6.2 Quantitative Payam Survey Name Label

P_1_before 1.CompletebeforetheinterviewP_1.1 1.1Nameofresearcherstate_county_payamP_1.3_school 1.3Telephone/emailaddressofthePEOP_1.4 1.4HowmanyKMisPayamfromtheCED?P_1.6 1.6Istherespondentmaleorfemale? P_Read_consent ReadatthestartoftheinterviewP_consent_statement

"My name is [xx]. I am doing some research for the Ministry of Education Girls’Education South Sudanprogramme. Iwork for [xx].Wearedoing some research inschools,PayamEducationOfficesandCountyEducationOfficesacrossSouthSudan. Iwould liketoasksomequestionsaboutPayamEducationOfficeandaboutyourrole.The purpose of the research is to find out more about what is happening in theeducation system across South Sudan.The survey is not for testing, judging or assessing offices or individuals. It is not aninspectionor supervisionvisit. Youranswerswill be confidential andnobodybut theresearcherswillknowwhatindividualshavesaid.Youwillnotfindoutwhatindividualteachersorlearnershavesaid.Theresearchwillpulltogetherresultsacrossthestateandcountryandaverageortotalfigureswillbeshared.Itwillhelpthegovernmenttoimprove schools.Youareentitledtorefusetoansweranyquestionsorstopthesurveyatanytime.Thissurveyshouldtakeapproximately1hour."

P_consent Areyouhappytogoaheadwiththesurvey? P_2 2.AboutyouP_2.1 2.1Whatisyourname?P_2.2 2.2Whatisyourdateofbirth?P_2.3 2.3WhatisyourroleinPayamoffice?P_2.3_other Pleasespecify:P_2.4 2.4Whatisyourmothertonguelanguage?P_2.4_other Pleasespecify:P_2.5 2.5Whichlanguagescanyouspeak?Selectallthatapply.

P_2.6_language 2.6Pleaserateyourability inreadingandwritinginthefollowinglanguagesfrom1-5(1isnoabilityand5isveryhighability).

P_2.6a ArabicP_2.6b EnglishP_2.6c Swahili P_2.7 2.7Whatkindofcontractdoyouhave?P_2.8 2.8Howmanyyearshaveyoubeeninyourcurrentrole?P_2.9 2.9HowmanyyearshaveyoubeenworkingatthisPayamoffice,intotal?P_2.10 2.10Howmanydaysofprofessionaldevelopmenttrainingdidyouparticipatein2013?P_2.11 2.11Whatwasthetopicofthetraining?


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P_2.12 2.12Whichofthefollowingqualificationsdoyouhave?Selectallthatapply.P_2.13 2.13Canyouuseacomputer?Pleaserateyourabilityfrom1-5(1isnoabilityand5is

veryhighability).P_2.14 2.14Canyouuseamobilephone?Pleaserateyourabilityfrom1-5(1isnoabilityand

5isveryhighability).P_2.15 2.15Haveyoueverbeenateacherinaschool?P_2.16 2.16Whatleveldidyouteach?Selectallthatapply.P_2.17 2.17Forhowmanyyearsintotaldidyouteachinschools?P_2.18 2.18Haveyoueverbeenaheadteacherinaschool?P_2.19 2.19Forhowmanyyearsintotalwereyouaheadteacher?P_2.20 2.20Whatwasthenameofthelastschoolyouworkedin?P_2.21 2.21Whatwasthenameofthelastschoolyouworkedin? P_3 3AboutPayamofficeP_3.1 3.1HowmanyeducationstaffarethereinthisPayamofficeintotal?P_3.2 3.2Howmanyschool/educationsupervisorsarethereinthisPayamofficeintotal?P_3.3 3.3Pleasenametheotherschoolsupervisors.P_3.4 3.4WhichofthefollowingfacilitiesdoesPayamofficehave?P_3.5 3.5DoesPayamofficehaveabankaccount? P_4 4AboutschoolsinthisPayamP_4.1 4.1HowmanyprimaryschoolsarethereinthisPayam,bytype?P_4.1a GovernmentP_4.1b CommunityP_4.1c Faith-based(churchschoolormosqueschool)P_4.1d PrivateproprietorP_4.1e OtherP_4.1_other Pleasespecifyothertypes P_4.2 4.2HowmanysecondaryschoolsarethereinthisPayam,bytype?P_4.2a GovernmentP_4.2b CommunityP_4.2c Faith-based(churchschoolormosqueschool)P_4.2d PrivateproprietorP_4.2e OtherP_4.2_other Pleasespecifyothertypes P_4.3 4.3 How many primary and secondary schools are you personally responsible for

supervising?P_4.3a PrimaryP_4.3b Secondary P_4.4 4.4Howfaristhemostdistantschoolunderyoursupervision?(KM)P_4.5 4.5Howfaristheclosestschoolunderyoursupervision?(KM)P_4.6 4.6Whatmodeoftransportdoyouusetovisitschools?(selectallthatapply) P_5 5WorkofPayamOffice


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P_5.1 5.1Doyouhaveacopyofanyofthefollowingdocumentstoguideyourwork?Selectallthatapply.

P_5.2 5.2CanIseethem?P_5.3 5.3Onaverage,howmanytimesdidyouvisiteachschoolin2013?P_5.4 5.4Whatdoyoudoduringaschoolsupervisionvisit?SelectallthatapplyP_5.5 5.5 Do you provide the school with feedback during or after the school supervision

visit?SelectallthatapplyP_5.6 5.6 In between school visits, do you communicate with the school in any of the

followingways?P_5.7 5.7DoesPayameducationofficerequireschoolstosendthefollowingadministrative

records?P_5.8 5.8Haveyoubeeninvolvedindevelopinganyschooldevelopmentplanswithschools?P_5.9 5.9ArecopiesofschooldevelopmentplanskeptatPayamoffice?P_5.10 5.10CanIseethem? P_6 6RoleofCountyEducationOfficeP_6.1 6.1 How many schools in your Payam received inspections from County / State

inspectionteamsin2013?P_6.2 6.2Wereyouinformedinadvanceofschoolinspections?P_6.3 6.3Didyousend informationaboutschoolstoCounty/State inspectionteampriorto

schoolvisits?P_6.4 6.4Wereyouinvolvedinpreparingtheschoolsforschoolinspections?P_6.5 6.5 On average, how often do you send reports on schools’ progress to County

EducationDepartment?P_6.6 6.6IsPayamEducationOfficerequiredtosendanyofthefollowingrecordstoCounty

EducationDepartment? P_7 7TeachersP_7.1 7.1Howdo teachersgethelp to improve their teachingwithin the school?Selectall

thatapply.P_7.2 7.2Does the school inform thePEO if a teacher absent for a longperiod (e.g.more

than2weeks)?P_7.3 7.3Whatisthefirstactionthatistakenifateacherabsentforalongperiod(e.g.more

than2weeks)?SelectallthatapplyP_7.4 7.4Whatwouldhappenifateacherhadaninappropriaterelationshipwithalearnerat

yourschool?(Selectthemostlikelyanswer)P_7.5 7.5Whatwouldhappentotheteacherintheend?(Selectthemostlikelyanswer)P_7.6 7.6Whatwouldhappentothelearnerintheend?(Selectthemostlikely)P_7.7 7.7Wereanyteachersaccusedofhavinganinappropriaterelationshipwitha learner

atanyschoolsinyourPayamin2013,thatyouareawareof? P_8 8SchoolgovernanceP_8.1 8.1HowmanyoftheschoolsinthisPayamhave:P_8.1a ASchoolManagementCommittee(SMC)P_8.1b ParentTeacherAssociation(PTA)P_8.1c BoardofGovernors(BOG) P_8.2 8.2Areyouamemberofanyof thePTAs,SMCsorBOGs foranyof the schoolsyou

supervise?P_8.3 8.3Howmany?P_8.4 8.4WhataretheresponsibilitiesoftheSMCs,PTAsorBOGs?Selectallthatapply.


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P_8.5 8.5DoesPayameducationofficeapprovethefollowingschoolfinancialrecords?Selectallthatapply.

P_8.6 8.6IsthePEOresponsibleforhelpingschoolstodeveloptheirbudgets?P_8.7 8.7IsthePEOrequiredtoapprovetheschools’budgets?P_8.8 8.8IsthePEOrequiredtoapprovetheschools’accounts?P_8.9 8.9HowmanyoftheschoolsinyourPayamhavebankaccounts?