“We are called upon to do what it takes to sustain a sovereign nation.” The role of education in the development of statehood in South Sudan, with particular regards to its language-in-education policy.

  • Chris Sowton

Student thesis: Doctoral ThesisDoctor of Education (EdD)

Abstract

The world’s newest nation state, South Sudan, gained its independence in 2011, following a long, violent and highly contested relationship with Sudan. This thesis examines the approach taken by the newly-installed government towards its education system in general, and its language-in-education policy in particular. In addressing the central research question – What does an analysis of the second general education strategy plan (GESP-s) tell us about the educational priorities of the government of South Sudan upon independence, with particular regard to language-in-education? – this thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse one of its foundational education texts, GESP-2, a document created by the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MOGEI) in tandem with international actors. The document purports to be an educational roadmap covering the period 2017-2022. Through this critical discourse analysis, it emerges that the government of South Sudan has used the national education system in general, and the language-in-education policy in particular (through its focus on English), as a mechanism to maintain and extend its own power within the polity. The main reasons for this are the low levels of ‘South Sudanese-ness felt by the population, the precarious post-war security situation in which speaking Arabic has been problematised, and the waning of the power and influence of the ‘Westphalian’ nation state in a region where the power of transnational, state and non-state actors has increased. The emphasis has thus been on using education as a mechanism of control rather than as a tool for supporting the learning and skills development of the nation state’s youth. The external agencies who have funded, supported and inputted directly into this process are complicit in its failings in their reluctance to push back against these problems, and due to the clear lack of accountability within GESP-2.
Date of Award4 Dec 2023
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of Bath
SupervisorLizzi Milligan (Supervisor) & Gail Forey (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Critical Discourse Analysis
  • South Sudan
  • Post-conflict
  • Language-in-education
  • Education systems
  • Education policy

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