Friends of Ibba Girls School (FIGS) is a UK-registered charity founded in 2011, at the request of the local community in Ibba, South Sudan. Its mission is to support the development and sustainability of Ibba Girls Boarding School (IGBS), a free community school which serves over 300 girls from across Western Equatoria State, where few girls complete primary education and even fewer access secondary education.

IGBS provides safe and secure boarding education for (currently) 342 students from upper primary through to the end of secondary, creating a bridge between the two education levels education in order to reduce school dropout. Boarding enables girls to study in security, free from poverty, daily travel to school in forested areas, domestic labour and early or forced marriage in a country struggling to emerge from war.

The school aims to learn “with the pen and the hoe” recognising that both academic and practical skills are important for girls’ education. Each class has recently been given a small plot of land on the school farm in order to learn about and grow crops. Girls will pass on knowledge to their families about better farming practices. Agriculture helps with improved nutrition, addresses the climate emergency, and helps the school to be more self-reliant through growing more of its food.

This one-year ALMT grant to FIGS will support:

• An agriculture teacher to teach the secondary agriculture curriculum, as well as wider farming education for all classes, and to grow food on the campus.
• Two core secondary teachers in English and Maths – subjects vital for lifelong learning and national examinations. English is the official language of South Sudan and is a second or third language for most students.
• Nutritious school food, supporting concentration, wellbeing and growth at school.