“I’ve been given a second chance”: Primary School Student in South Sudan Re-Enrols After Giving Birth
Adut* was just 15 and still in primary school when she fell pregnant. Following Dinka tradition, her father removed her from her studies and planned to marry her off to the man who impregnated her in exchange for a bride price of cows. But then he had a change of heart - thanks to Adut’s auntie Lual*, who introduced him to another solution.
Lual listens regulary to the innovative radio programme ‘Our School’, which inspires communities to support girls’ education and girls’ rights. Produced by BBC Media Action for Girls Education South Sudan (GESS), the programme is broadcast weekly in nine local South Sudanese languages across the nation. Each 15-minute episode features real-life stories and interviews with girls, parents, school managers and community members - on issues ranging from teenage pregnancy and teacher-learner relationships to forced marriage and career fairs.
“I told Adut’s father that, after listening to this programme on my radio, I had learnt that girls have rights and should not be forced into marriage against their will,” explains Lual, who now acts as a GESS Family Group Facilitator in central South Sudan.
“At first, he was not interested as he wanted to marry Adut off. But I gave him examples of girls who had completed their studies and how their parents had benefited from their education. Eventually, he listened and came round to the idea. Then he organised with his wife to look after the baby so their daughter could resume her studies.”
Despite enormous strides over the last decade in female enrolment, only one girl in 10 will finish primary school in South Sudan. Cultural traditions prioritise boys’ education, with girls kept at home for domestic chores or married off to receive bride price (money, property or goods paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s). As a result, more than than half (52%) of the nation’s girls marry before they turn 18, according to the most recent Unicef figures, and some are betrothed as young as 12. Child pregnancy is even more prevalent, with one in three girls falling pregnant before turning 15.
The GESS radio programmes and community mobilisations, which focus on ideological and behaviour change, have made a significant difference to communities’ ways of thinking, notes Lual, who says the frequency of forced marriages in her county have reduced remarkably.
“Through these radios given to the communities, many parents [are keeping] their daughters in school, including those that were impregnated,” she says.
“Many girls in our community used to contemplate committing suicide as the only means to end it all. Now we support our daughters so that they know there are other solutions. We stand by them, regardless if they are pregnant or not, to complete their studies.”
Decisions in South Sudan about daughters’ futures are usually made by men, which means that it is often up to women to convince them to think differently.
“When I discovered that Adut was pregnant, I immediately stopped her studies and took her to the cattle camp,” says Adut’s father, who serves as village chief.
“But after Lual spoke to me about the radio programme and the importance of girls’ education, I listened to her advice and gave my daughter a chance. As local chief of the area, it is my duty to lead by example. By doing this, I can convince my community members to do the same with their daughters should they get pregnant before completing their studies. I hope my own daughter will complete her studies up to university.”
Adut, who is now 17 and in senior school, says she was pleasantly surprised that her father changed his mind and allowed her to go back to school.
“I want to complete my studies now that my dad has given me another opportunity,” she says.
“I am happy my mother is helping and supporting me with my baby. I won’t take it for granted.”
*All names have been changed to protect identities.
Reporting by James Apachdit Makuoi, Community Mobiliser.
Editing by Alfred Geri in Juba.