Data Story: 2021 Secondary School Enrolment in 6 Counties of Western Equatoria

Western Equatoria State has an enrolment of 6,382 students in 31 schools across six counties according to the Ministry of General Education and Instruction there.

By Justin Anthony

The State Ministry of General Education and Instruction in Western Equatoria State says in a data obtained by 211 Check that 6,382 students returned to secondary schools in the area after schools reopened in April 2021 following closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statistics show enrolment in the counties of Yambio, Nzara, Mvolo, Ibba, Maridi and Mundri . Tambura has been excluded due to the conflict that occurred there.

County	No. of Schools	Boys	Girls	Total
Yambio	12	2353	1507	3860
Nzara	3	125	143	268
Mvolo	1	42	73	115
Ibba	2	62	24	86
Maridi	10	889	560	1449
Mundri	3	409	195	604
Total	31	3880	2502	6382

Table showing secondary school enrolment in 6 counties of Western Equatoria in 2021

The data also shows that at least 320 students are known to have dropped out of school due to factors such as financial constraints, early and unintended pregnancies, marriages, among other reasons.

County	No. of Schools	Boys Dropped	Girls Dropped	Total
Yambio	12	52	75	127
Nzara	3	10	16	26
Mvolo	1	8	10	18
Ibba	2	4	8	12
Maridi	10	43	63	106
Mundri	3	17	20	37
Total	31	134	192	326

Table showing number of students who have dropped out of secondary school in 6 counties of Western Equatoria in 2021

About the Authors:

Justin Anthony, a Data Speaks Fellow at #defyhatenow South Sudan, wrote this data story, which was edited by 211 Check Editor Emmanuel Bida Thomas and approved for publication by Steve Topua, Data Analyst and Trainer. It’s part of the ongoing #defyhatenow South Sudan Data Speaks Fellowship program with funding from the European Union Delegation to South Sudan.

About South Sudan Data Speaks Fellowship:

This is a three months data journalism fellowship for South Sudanese content creators with an aim of educating participants on the fundamentals of data journalism through in-depth training facilitated by experienced data analysts.

The fellows have been selected from across South Sudan and they are trained in data sourcing/mining, data analysis, and data visualisation for three months (October to December)

Each fellow will produce a minimum of three (03) data stories during the fellowship. The focus will be on increasing access to information