South Sudan has announced that all schools would be closed for two weeks owing to an ongoing intense heat wave that has caused some children to collapse.
This is the second time the country, which is experiencing catastrophic effects from climate change, such as flooding during the rainy season, has shut down schools during a heatwave in February and March.
According to Deputy Education Minister, Martin Tako Moi, “an average of 12 students had been collapsing in Juba city every day.”
Most schools in South Sudan are temporary constructions made of iron sheets, with no electricity to run cooling systems.
Environment Minister Josephine Napwon Cosmos on Thursday urged residents to stay indoors and drink lots of water as temperatures were expected to rise as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Mr. Napwon proposed that government employees “work in shifts” to avoid heat strokes.
Education workers have urged the government to consider amending the school calendar so that schools close in February and resume in April when the temperatures reduces.
A civil society group, blamed the government for a lack of proper planning and contingency plans.
It said that closing schools during heatwaves shows a “failure to prioritise the education of South Sudan’s children.”
The country’s health system is fragile due to political instability.
Nearly 400,000 people were killed between 2013 and 2018 when a peace agreement was signed by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-deputy, Riek Machar.
The country has been facing an economic crisis due to an interruption of oil exports after a major pipeline was raptured in neighbouring war-torn Sudan. The pipeline was later repaired.
