Mid-line Learning Assessment Report For School Based Participatory Budgeting & Female Teaching Facilitators Project in Maban, South Sudan

Save the Children South Sudan is piloting an innovative initiative where community-based structures determine how the budget is utilized and allocated to respective schools located in Maban County. Additionally, Save the Children South Sudan in collaboration with Save the Children Denmark implement the female teaching facilitator’s project in Maban County with flexible funding dedicated to innovation by Danish International Development Agency (Danida). The project looks to address the challenges of lack of skilled teachers leading to an insufficient number of teachers in local schools as well as the lack of female teachers/female role models in schools encouraging enrolment and retention of female learners. At the same time, there is low morale among teachers and facilitators as a result of minimal capacity building and delayed salary payments affecting the quality of education in schools leading to youth unemployment due to the younger generations not developing the proper skills in schools. Moreover, in South Sudan, only 41% of the teachers are qualified and the majority of the teachers are untrained volunteer teachers that require a lot of capacity building in the areas of curriculum delivery, basic pedagogy, life skills, classroom management, child protection and design and development of locally made materials to facilitate effective learning.
The overall purpose of the midline learning assessment was to explore the implementation process and outcomes of the participatory budgeting and the female teacher pilot projects to draw out midline results and lessons learned for the continual implementation, needed changes and adaptations and for potential further scale up.

Methodology: The study was based on a qualitative approach, using participatory methodologies to center the feedback and experience of children, community members, teachers, local authorities and Save the Children South Sudan staff

Findings: The County Education Department demonstrates robust support for project activities upon receiving timely and inclusive communication. PB participants, students, and community members promptly observe tangible results and transformations stemming from project activities, thereby enhancing overall satisfaction with the project. Female members of the SMC and PTA expressed feelings of exclusion from significant decision-making processes and expressed a desire for improved communication channels with the Head Teacher.