A/HRC/40/CRP.1 Those schools which are functional are crowded with few resources. The average student to teacher ratio is 37:1.806 However, the student to teacher ratio varies according to the region and in some conflict affected regions the ratio is significantly higher with Jonglei and Upper Nile student to teacher ratios exceeding 50:1. Schools catering to South Sudanese refugees also face significant challenges. In this regard, the ratio of students to teachers is high, especially in Kenya (84:1) and Uganda (80:1).807 In addition, only 16 percent of teachers are women. 808 This particularly affects girls’ education because, for cultural and safety reasons, they are more likely to go to school if there is a female teacher serving as a role model and demonstrating to girls the value of education.809 Furthermore, there is a high degree of teacher absenteeism in large part due to the non-payment of teacher salaries. In November 2017, when teachers should have received 10 months’ worth of salary in the 2017 school year, they had on average only received four months of salaries.810 Indeed, in 2017, teachers from only one percent of schools had received seven or more months’ worth of salary payments. 811 In schools where salaries had been paid, over 75 percent of teachers were present, whereas in schools where they had not, attendance dropped by nine percentage points.812 In November 2018, the EU-funded organization Impact announced that it would be paying all primary school teachers in South Sudan monthly incentives of $40 USD for a period of 16 months to increase attendance and improve standards.813 The programme also announced it would develop an electronic human resources database of nursery, primary and secondary teachers in all States in coordination with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction.814 While the payment of incentives is a welcome step to ensuring teachers receive compensation for their important work, the responsibility remains with the Government to adequately fund the education system. Even where teachers are present, very few are formally qualified. Only four percent of teachers have earned a secondary education certificate and under 40 percent of primary and 70 percent of secondary school teachers have any formal teacher training. 815 For example, one teacher told the Commission that although he had only reached Secondary Year 3 level of education himself, he was teaching mathematics, science and religious studies to Primary level 1 students.816 Nonetheless, in a positive step, in late December 2018, the Minister of General Education and Instruction announced a screening exercise to ensure that primary and secondary school teachers meet the minimum qualifications. 817 Furthermore, there is a lack of appropriate educational tools and materials to aid teaching and learning. Only half of teachers have a full set of textbooks for the subjects they are teaching.818 Although a new national curriculum was launched in 2015, it is not yet supported by the required teaching and learning materials as teacher guides and textbooks 806 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017; Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 807 UNHCR, South Sudan Regional RRP 2018 Mid-Year Report, June 2018. The percentage of children in school varies by host country with the lowest number of primary students enrolled in Sudan (42%) and the highest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (76%) and at secondary level: the lowest percent in Kenya (5%) and the highest in Uganda (12%). Similar concerns were raised in respect of South Sudanese refugees in Darfur. Confidential Meeting, Nyala, Sudan, 26 August 2018. 808 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 809 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 810 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 811 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 812 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 813 Impact, https://impact-southsudan.org/, las accessed 21 November 2018. 814 Impact, https://impact-southsudan.org/, las accessed 21 November 2018. 815 Global Initiative on Out of School Children, “South Sudan Country Study”, May 2018. 816 Witness 915, ERN 101828-101835, para. 4. 817 Radio Miraya, “National Ministry of Education to screen-out unqualified teachers”, 20 December 2018. 818 Republic of South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, UNICEF and Save the Children, Education Cluster Assessment, South Sudan, November 2017. 109