Koinonia Nuba runs a Teachers Training Institute and two Model Primary schools.
Yusuf Kuwa Teachers Training Institute (YKTTI) at Gidel (Kumbur Payam, Rashad County)
Gidel is a locality on the eastern part of the Nuba Mountains, about 12 km east of Kauda. It is a flat area surrounded by hills. A new hospital run by the Diocese of El Obeid, only 2 kilometres away, has opened in April 2008.
Established in May 2001, this institution is named after Yusuf Kuwa, who led the Nuba people’s resistance against the government until his death in March 2001. Yusuf Kuwa was a teacher by vocation and profession.
The YKTTI has a staff of seven qualified teachers, occasionally supported by visiting professors, and 350 students. The students follow a 2 years program, and at the completion of their studies receive a diploma.
Implementation strategy
1. Supplies of educational materials and tools needed for the running of the YKTTI.
2. Pursuit of quality output through research, case studies and improvement on teaching curricula through participatory curriculum development.
3. Coordination with pertinent bodies on teacher training at regional, national and East African levels. This will help update methods and formats of effective training.
3. Improve on yearly inputs by organizing career fairs at the regional level, as a way of advertising the programmes offered by the Centre. This strategy will help in the dissemination of information about the Centre, and will encourage prospective candidates to apply for enrollment at the institution.
Koinonia Model School and Musa Arat Model School
Koinonia Model School is situated at Kerker, about 3 Km east of Gidel. Kerker was largely uninhabited before the civil war. In the early 1990s, people from Lubi, a flat area about 15 km east of the present Kerker, fled to the nearby mountains after experiencing several war attacks. There, they founded Kerker village, whose population is currently estimated at about 7,000. They also started a bush school which was upgraded to a model school by Koinonia in the year 1999.
Musa Arat Model School is situated at Kujur Shabia is on a high plateau (1,150 asl) about 10 Km west of Kauda. A stronghold of the SPLA since the onset of the civil war, the area is the traditional home of the Otoro people and has a population of more than 20,000 inhabitants. The school is named after Musa Arat, a local Catholic catechist and leader who died in 2001 while undergoing medical treatment in Nairobi, Kenya. The school was established in August 2002.
Most of the activities in these institutions take place in classes built with traditional material and techniques. There is an ongoing programme to build bricks and cement classes for both schools.
Project Beneficiaries
The primary beneficiaries of the project are the 750 pupils of the Koinonia Model School, which is staffed with 13 teachers, and the 550 pupils of the Musa Arat Model School, which has 12 teachers. The secondary beneficiaries are their families and the marginalized Nuba people.
Implementation Strategy
1. To campaign for increased female enrolment in primary schools.
2. Continuous supplies of school materials to help motivate parents to send their children to school. This will increase levels of enrolment, retention and interest in education.
3. Continuous mobilization of resources to help develop a community-centered school that offers basic services to its population i.e. clean water, sanitation, and nutrition programmes.
4. Continuously mobilize and raise awareness that will motivate the communities to appreciate education. This will be done through the provision of incentives, for instance by involving parents in running the schools in collaboration with the teachers through Parents Teachers Associations.
5. To curb dependency, form community leaders and sensitize the community at large to undertake initiatives that will make their schools self-reliant.
6. To enhance capacity-building and improve livelihoods in the Nuba community.
Project Partners
In collaboration with donor organizations, Koinonia works hand in hand with the local community and authorities in the running of the two schools and the Teachers Training Institute.
Koinonia also works with the Regional Secretariat of Education, as well as the Parents Teachers Association, to ensure that all activities run without interruptions.