The Ministry of General Education and Instruction and Windle Trust International have done a good job. They have come with Intensive English Course (IEC) for Refugee teachers as well as the host community with low English proficiency. The project is funded by the World Bank.
On August 27, 2025, the workshop for producing IEC materials commenced. An expert, a lady from UK with two masters, one in English and one in international relation from Oxford University was brought to facilitate the workshop. The lady has also twenty years’ experience in dealing with Intensive English Course. She worked for ten years in Sudan. She also worked for more than ten years in India just on the same programme.
The workshop is consisted of twenty English Language experts in the country. These are experts with more than ten years in teaching English. Ninety per cent of them hold a master’s degree in English. They are as well university lecturers. Some of them are trained master trainers of English language and some are staff from the ministry of General Education and Instruction. They are both male and female experts.
The workshop began with an opening ceremony. Mr Samuel Buoi, a windle Trust staff officiated the ceremony. Mr Samuel Buoi is a man with great love for South Sudan’s education. He holds a master’s degree from one of the prestigious universities in the UK. He has served with Windle Trust International for quite a long time focusing on IEC and ASAP. He has played a great role in South Sudan education. He was a lecturer in Dr John Garang University of Science and Technology and the University of Juba. The two universities still praise his great work up to now. Samuel welcomed every one and thanked all the experts.
The project manager Mr Yakani gave his speech. He thanked the ministry of general education and instruction for working closely with them. He thanked Jemima, the IEC expert, and the other expert taking the ASAP workshop for accepting to come to South Sudan. Jemima came to South Sudan for the second time. She came in 2009, sixteen years ago. He confirmed the capability of the English experts selected to the DJ present. He made it clear that it was the expertise seen in their CVs that made them qualify for the workshop. He sat down after his speech.
The last speech was given by the acting DG (Director General) from the ministry. He gave a lengthy speech full of wisdom. He emphasized much on the important of the workshop. He said the workshop is meant to produce a learning material for the Intensive English Course which will be used by the country for years. He emphasized the materials must be authentic and meet the needs of the Refugee teachers of different education backgrounds. He assured the English experts that they deserved to have been selected for the workshop. He continued telling them that the Ministry of General Education and Instruction will continue to use them as the project will continue for about two years. The DJ declared the workshop opened.
The external expert started the workshop with explaining how successful the same programme was when she started it in Sudan. She shared her experience which became a motivation for the experts. She assured the experts that the programme will help so many refugee teachers who are teaching in primary schools but have no basic English for teaching. She emphasized the course will give A1 English proficiency which will help them teach in English. They will be teaching all the subjects, science, CRE, Maths, for example, in English. Her elaboration ignited hope in the experts.
Then the workshop began! As if it was a joke! It started with designing a persona. The experts were grouped to provide their personas for different Refugee teachers. A persona gives the name of the refugee teacher. It details His/her country of origin. It presents his/her age. It tells also the teacher’s level of English proficiency, whether A1 or A2. The details of the teacher’s pupils are also presented in the persona. The persona tells the age of the pupils, their class size and their proficiency level which is definitely A0. In addition, the persona consists of the challenges the teacher and the pupils face. The persona concludes with the most educational needs of the learners and the teacher.
When all the personas were presented, it was noticed that they all have differences. They have variation in age, proficiency level, and class size, among others. And surprisingly, it was noticed that they all share the same education needs. They all need English learning materials. The teachers need English to teach in English.
The discussion of the different personas gave the experts a direction of how the materials for the Intensive English Course should be produced. The materials must meet the needs of all the teachers in the refugee camps. It must not focus on Ahmed whose English proficiency is A2 leaving out Omar whose English proficiency is A1. The experts were very excited about the personas.
There was a big drama in the workshop hall when it came to choosing vocabularies for A1 learners of English! The experts are university lecturers who are used to big English. Every vocabulary they gave was rejected! English teachers after reading this article must go back to learn A1 vocabulary. I have realized the reason children don’t understand is because teachers use big vocabulary which the children don’t understand. English must be simple for children to understand. What a great eye opener this workshop has become for the English experts!
Another surprise for the English experts was the lecture on the effective use of AI. Some seemed to have heard it for the first time. The facilitator explained how AI can help in English teaching. She explained further that AI is not a replacement for the experts’ intelligence but instead to assist the experts where necessary. She said AI is a friend. It can help you when you surely need help.
The experts immediately got into the practice for using AI. They asked AI for the vocabulary that can only be used for A1 learners. AI perfectly gave them everything. They all testified it was good to have AI and to use AI in education. There are things we cannot grumble. We need AI for such. I hope English teachers in South Sudan will adapt the use of AI to support their teaching. AI will be of use especially when the teacher does not have the full competency.
This programme has been planned to help many refugees in South Sudan. This is the hospitality we can give to our neighbours. This is clear demonstration of vision. It tells the ministry of General Education and Instruction and Windle Trust International have clear vision for South Sudan’s education. We are in the world of inclusive education. Education must not leave anyone out. We must educate every person.
I appeal to the host communities to open their eyes too. As I have heard from the Windle Trust International and the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, this programme is not limited to only the refugee teachers. We have teachers teaching in our primary schools with low English proficiency level. They must join! They must benefit with the refugees. There is never project that leaves the host community out. As South Sudanese, we are very ignorant in nature. We don’t see the benefit of something until we see it benefiting someone else. This time we must fight our ignorance.
You will not regret learning in this Intensive English Course. It will improve your English proficiency. You will be a fluent English user. English language is about its fluency. It is not about its accuracy. As English is the official language of the country, we must learn it. Being fluent in English will also be an advantage for you in the job market. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Congratulations to the English experts! Please, motivate your fellow English teachers to love English. We can help the nation. I understand things are not easy outside there. But you don’t know what the future holds. Read my testimony in the below paragraph.
When I joined the IEC workshop at Glory Regency hotel, I registered many privileges I got just because of my expertise. I got the privilege of self-service. I was told that I could eat as much as my stomach demanded. I started eating chicken and meat until I don’t want to eat chicken and meat anymore. I got the privilege of drinking of even more than ten bottles of factory water per day. My eating and drinking goes to 50USD or more per day. 50USD times ten days. This is already 500USD. Lastly, I had the privilege of seeing Dr Riek Gai, the Jonglei state governor in the same hotel. This tells I am not a second class citizen. I tell you, now, I walk big.
Dear reader, think about what you can do for your nation. We all have a role in nation building. The Ministry of General education and Instruction are doing it. I am doing my part by writing to create awareness and to motivate. Citizen No.1 is doing its part by publishing my articles. What about you? Be kind to the Nation.
