South Sudan launches play-based learning programme to tackle literacy crisis

The South Sudan education ministry has unveiled a four-year, $14.5 million initiative in partnership with the LEGO Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, and aid agencies to improve early childhood education and address the country’s alarming literacy challenges.

South Sudan’s education ministry has launched a new four-year, $14.5 million programme with the LEGO Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation and international aid partners in an effort to improve early learning in a country where millions of children remain outside the classroom. The PlayMatters initiative is designed to promote active, play-based teaching methods while supporting children aged three to 12 in crisis-affected settings.

According to the ministry, the project is intended to help strengthen the national system rather than replace it. Omot Okony Olok, the Undersecretary at the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, said the biggest challenge remains basic literacy and numeracy, warning that some pupils reach secondary school without being able to read, speak confidently or count properly.

The programme will be delivered by a consortium led by the International Rescue Committee, alongside Plan International and War Child Alliance. Richard Orengo, the IRC’s South Sudan country director, said the initiative will operate in schools across 12 counties in seven states and aims to reach more than 160,000 children, as well as parents’ associations, school management committees and other local education actors.

PlayMatters is not new globally. The initiative was launched in 2020 to embed learning through play into education systems in low-resource and crisis-affected settings, with work already under way in countries including Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. The South Sudan expansion comes as humanitarian and education agencies say more than 2.8 million children in the country are out of school, underlining the scale of the challenge the partners are seeking to address.