On Monday, I made a difficult but necessary decision to transfer my son to a new school.
The reason was simple; he did not perform well in mathematic despite consistently ranking second in his class throughout last year.
Following an assessment test in his new school, the teachers described his performance as “average” and recommended that he repeat a class he had already completed.
The recommendation was made despite his strong performance across all subjects except mathematics.
I Feld the verdict disregards a learner’s overall academic record and violates the fundamental principle of fair, balanced, and child-centered assessment.
The experience conflicts with a previous school in Uganda where my boy was studying; the school assessed him holistically and promoted him based on overall competence, growth, and potential.
Any academic gaps were addressed through targeted support and corrective instruction not through punishment or regression.
Why, then, does South Sudan’s education system appear to move in the opposite direction, penalizing students for shortcomings rooted in schools’ failure rather than individual effort?
The problem is not an isolated incident; in Juba, a growing number of schools routinely compel transferred students to repeat a class or in some cases, demotes them by two grades due to weakness in a single subject.
The practices undermine students’ confidence, erode their self-esteem, and disrupt their long-term academic development.
Education should inspire resilience, curiosity, and excellence, not diminish a child’s potential through rigid and unjust policies.
Urgent government intervention is required.
Clear national guidelines and enforceable regulations must be established to ensure fair and consistent assessment of transferred students.
Teachers must be held accountable for instructional gaps, and promotion decisions should reflect a learner’s overall performance rather than isolated deficiencies.
Schools should be encouraged and required to provide corrective support where gaps exist, instead of defaulting to demotion as a quick and damaging solution.
Every parent desires a high-quality education for their child. South Sudanese families should not live in constant fear that a single weak link in a school’s system will derail a child’s academic journey.
Our children deserve an education system that is fair, supportive, and focused on nurturing their full potential not one that punishes them for failures they did not create.
