South Sudan takes Major Step Forward in Education Data

In South Sudan,  education data still begins with handwritten registers - where teachers record attendance, enrollment, and performance each day, often under significant pressure, in overcrowded classrooms and with limited resources. But that is beginning to change. 

Between 16 and 18 March 2026, the African Union Pan-African Institute for Education for Development (AU IPED), through the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), a joint endeavour with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, worked closely with South Sudan’s Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) to strengthen the country’s Education Management Information System (EMIS). This work sits within a broader effort to advance the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2026–2035) and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) through stronger education data systems.

The three-day engagement brought together Ministry officials from EMIS, planning, ICT, and policy units, alongside development partners, for a structured process of reflection and problem-solving.

Discussions focused on key challenges affecting the education data system, including fragmented data systems, limited technical capacity, weak coordination, and infrastructure constraints. These conversations were candid and grounded in the day-to-day realities of managing education data in a complex context.

To complement these discussions, AU IPED conducted field visits to public schools in Juba. These visits helped validate system-level challenges and highlighted the gap between national systems and school-level realities.

Across both discussions and field visits, several common challenges were identified:

• Data systems are not fully integrated, leading to inconsistencies
• Limited capacity in data management, analysis, and digital tools
• Continued reliance on manual data collection at the school level
• Infrastructure and connectivity challenges, particularly outside urban areas
• Weak coordination across institutions and partners
• Limited domestic investment in education data systems

Yet participants emphasized that schools and Ministry officers continue to work within these constraints - demonstrating resilience and a commitment to maintaining the system.

A key outcome of the engagement was the development of a costed national EMIS action plan, a concrete roadmap that identifies practical, targeted actions to strengthen the system, led by the Ministry and supported by AU IPED. Its priorities include:

• Improving data governance through clearer roles, standards, and accountability.
• Developing tools to better capture critical issues, such as reasons for student dropout.
• Strengthening coordination among partners to align efforts and reduce duplication.
• Building technical capacity at the national and state levels.
• Investing in ICT infrastructure and improve system integration.

By linking these priorities to indicative costs, the plan provides a realistic pathway for implementation, one designed  to ensure that reforms can be financed, coordinated, and sustained.

The engagement highlighted an important lesson: education data systems are only as strong as the environments in which data is generated. Strengthening EMIS therefore requires both system-level reforms and ongoing support to the schools and local actors who produce data every day. South Sudan now has a plan, and the momentum to do both.