A/HRC/40/CRP.1 Committee meeting on 18-19 December 2018, found “encouraging indications that action is in hand to vacate [civilian] buildings”. 781 The mean number of years of education achieved by South Sudanese children is 4.8 (4.0 years for girls and 5.3 years for boys). 782 One of the reasons for the small number of years of education undertaken is the widespread phenomena of late entry into school, which combined with interruptions and drop-out rates, means few students have the opportunity to complete their primary and secondary school educations. Nearly 75 percent of six-year-olds and 59 percent of seven-year-olds were not attending school in 2015. Rates of enrolment increase as children reach adolescence; however, the late start means that under two percent of 14-year-olds and under four percent of 15-year-olds have reached secondary school.783 Girls also tend to reach secondary school later than boys, which combined with higher dropout rates relating to early marriage results in fewer years of education for girls. One primary school teacher the Commission spoke to explained that although he taught P1, which is the first level of primary school, “this does not have any bearing on the age of the children. Many of them had missed out on school for many years because of the war. Some of the students were even in their twenties.” 784 Primary schools suffered an average dropout rate of eight percent for girls and six percent for boys in 2017. The main reasons for girls dropping out were marriage and pregnancy, domestic duties, and a lack of food. Boys primarily drop out of school because of a lack of food, having to work, an inability to pay school fees, and insecurity. 785 Girls in particular are deprived of access to education. South Sudan has the lowest proportion of female students enrolled in primary school in sub-Saharan Africa and the second lowest in secondary school.786 Just over one third of students enrolled in primary school in 2017 were girls. 787 While this number is increasing each year,788 this proportion worsens when girls hit puberty because South Sudan has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world.789 This, taken in conjunction with the widespread late entry into school, means that girls are likely to get married before they complete their primary education. To address the low numbers of girls accessing education, the Government has created a specialised Community Girls’ School programme to assist girls in re-entering school.790 It consists of a three year course that mainstreams students back into primary education at Level 5. In 2017, these schools had enrolled approximately 6,000 students in 213 schools located in various parts of the country. 791 Rural children also face greater barriers to accessing education. While in urban areas 29 percent of boys and 32 percent of girls were out of school in 2015, in rural areas almost half of children are out of school (47 percent of boys and 53 percent of girls). 792 The urban/rural divide ties into the pastoralist culture in which children in cattle-keeping communities support their families by undertaking animal husbandry. To address some of these challenges, the Government has created a Pastoralist Education Programme which uses 781 CTSAMVM, Technical Committee Meeting Minutes, No. 6, Addis Ababa, 18-19 December 2018. UNDP, Human Development Indices and Indicators: 2018 Statistical Update, South Sudan. 783 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 784 Witness 915, ERN 101828-101835, para. 4. 785 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 786 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 787 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 788 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 789 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 790 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. The General Education Act (2012), section 9(2)(a) provides for the creation of non-formal education systems to provide learning opportunities for learners who missed their formal education. In 2017, the Minister of Education ordered all State Ministries of Education to ensure that there were sufficient Community Girls Schools to meet the educational needs of girls and young women. Ministerial Order No. 22/2017 on Girls Education in the Republic of South Sudan, 31 October 2017, Article 19. 791 UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Annual Report 2017 (reporting that 6, 84 students were enrolled (3,901 girls and 2,183 boys); UNICEF, Annual Report 2017 for South Sudan (reporting that 6,000 girls were enrolled). 792 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 782 107