South Sudan ended a half-century of civil war in 2005 with 2 million South Sudanese dead, and 4 million more displaced. The war left South Sudan with a shell of an education system.

In South Sudan today:

• 31% of youths and 12% of women are literate 
• Total boys enrolled in school drop from 166,130 in first grade to 8,172 in eighth
• Total girls enrolled in school drop from 90,842 in first grade to 3,287 in eighth

Of existing schools:

• 26% have desks or chairs, half of which are for teachers
• Only 31% have a toilet or rudimentary latrine
• 40% have drinking water within 500 meters 18% are held in permanent structures
• 36% of existing schools are held under open sky, or under a tree
• 84% are unable to provide children with food
• The average student to teacher ratio of existing schools is 42:1
• Just 6.3% of communities have a secondary school within walking distance 

                              A typical school in South Sudan