poor education for women and girls in south sudan

South Sudan has a long history of poor access to education where 16% of women above the age of 15 are literate, compared to 40% of men in the same age range. Primary school attendance and completion rates are low for both sexes, with 37% of girls and 51% of boys’ aged 6 to 13 attending school, and 6% of girls and 14% of boys completing their primary education. There is also an urban-rural gap in education as 53% of the urban adult population is literate compared to only 22% of the rural adult population (South Sudan Household Census of 2008). The low education levels are due to poor infrastructure development contributed to low funding to the education sector, long period of the conflict and lack of advocate for girls education of which 45% of girls get married before their 18th birth day.