Thousands of students in South Sudan failed to sit their final examinations in primary schools this week following fresh inter-communal fighting that erupted in parts of Jonglei and Unity States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two areas are controlled by forces loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar and have seen a sharp rise in violence over the past weeks that has displaced thousands of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 75,000 candidates are sitting the test this year to determine whether they will go to secondary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Sudan\u2019s education minister said the examinations in Jonglei and Unity States had been cancelled as the government could not guarantee the safety of invigilators in the areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said several of her staff had been abducted this week in Jonglei and money meant for teachers had been stolen by unknown gunmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the opposition says the cancellation of the exams is political and will affect the future of thousands of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN recently said that a surge in inter-ethnic fighting in Warrap, Maban and Jonglei areas had killed hundreds of people and forced thousands more to flee their homes in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, warned that the slow implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2018 poses a direct threat to the fragile peace in the world\u2019s newest nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the deal, President Salva Kiir and his rival Mr Machar formed a transitional government but they have failed to resolve key issues, including the unification of their forces into a single national army and a new constitution ahead of next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of students in South Sudan failed to sit their final examinations in primary schools this week following fresh inter-communal fighting that erupted in parts of Jonglei and Unity States. The two areas are controlled by forces loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar and have seen a sharp rise in violence over the past weeks that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":21529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[356,98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-21528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-big-story","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n