The Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction (SSIRI) programme teaches English literacy, native language literacy, and mathematics for primary grades 1-3. It aims to complement the teachers work in the classroom, and act as a tool for the educator’s teaching. The project organisers say the programmes function like another teacher in the room. It has the dual goal of instructing the teacher on how to do a better job, while also leading the children in exercises that support active learning, reinforce key concepts, and make learning fun.

The lessons use a combination of games, songs, and stories to introduce educational content. In the programmes, a radio teacher named “Madame Rhoda” instructs the classroom teacher to invite participation by having students answer questions aloud and write on the chalkboard or in the dirt. A cast of five additional characters leads other exercises where students sing songs and respond out loud. The broadcasts also instruct teachers to include girls and boys in the activities equally, which the organisers sat is a significant departure from traditional classroom practice.

Any school with a radio can receive and use the lessons, but the project is focusing on 200 schools in eight counties to follow closely. The project provided these schools with solar-powered and wind-up radios and teachers guides. In addition, the project trained a cadre of outreach coordinators for each region who in turn train teachers on how best to use and care for the radios and to integrate the programmes into the school day. The project has also developed basic monitoring and evaluation tools to track the impact of the programmes, such as attendance sheets and pre- and post-tests for students.

SSIRI employs a team of 18 Southern Sudanese educators, scriptwriters, actors, and production staff to develop 100 half-hour programmes for each grade level.

In addition to the classroom-based lessons, SSIRI is developing programming for Southern Sudan’s Accelerated Learning Programme, which is designed for adolescents and adults who have not been able to attend school in the past. The programme will deliver the lessons for grades one and two in a single combined year. SSIRI is also training 20 teachers in how best to use the instruction with this older audience.

Technology.

The programme aim to reach very remote areas where there are no school buildings, desks, or opportunities for teacher training. According to the organsiers, “In some parts of Southern Sudan, school consists of one teacher, 50 students, and the shade provided by some trees. In others, children gather for school in a small hut, or “tukul,” made from mud bricks and thatch, with no electricity or running water. Teachers might have chalk and a chalkboard, but books, paper, and pencils are rare.