Office of the minister of general education Unity state

The Office of the Minister of General Education is pleased to announce the release of Honorable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng who was detained on 21st March 2025.

The Office of the Minister has confirmed that the Minister's release is unconditional and that no charges will be pursued.

We remain committed to ensuring that all citizens are treated fairly and justly under the law.

Press Unit.

The Office of the Minister of General Education has strongly condemned the enforced disappearance of Honorable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng, a dedicated Cadre of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).

Minister Chieng was allegedly abducted by a security operative at Juba International Airport during the check-in process alongside His Excellency the Deputy Governor of Unity State, Tor Tungwar.

The two were taken separately, and shortly after, His Excellency the Deputy Governor was released.

Despite hours having passed since Minister Chieng's disappearance, his whereabouts remain unknown, causing distress to his family and sparking outrage to the SPLM-IO.

The Office of the Minister condemned this cowardly act perpetrated against SPLM-IO politicians by South Sudan's intelligence agency.

Press Unit.

The State Ministry of General Education and Instruction has condemned the illegal and unauthorized withdrawal of Laboratory equipment assigned to the Ministry by the STEM Power Organization.

This illegal practice came to the attention of the Honorable Minister when he was in preparation to transfer the equipment to the final destination.

The attached document is the official letter issued by the Honorable Minister.

Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng Inaugurates Senior Four Examination

Bentiu, Monday, December 2, 2024 – The Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng officially inaugurated the Senior Four examination this morning at Vincent Kuany Secondary School by ringing the bell to mark the commencement of the examination.

In attendance were the Senior Education Directors.

During parade, he addressed the students, encouraging them to approach their examinations with confidence.

Minister Chieng wished the candidates good health and successful studies throughout their examination period. He emphasized the importance of adhering to examination rules to ensure a peaceful and orderly process.

He also urged security personnel to cooperate with the candidates and offer support when needed, ensuring that no child would miss their examination.

This year, there are ten examination centers across Unity State, Bentiu, accommodating a total of 918 candidates: 678 male candidates and 240 female candidates.


Office of the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Unity State, Bentiu.

This morning, Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng announced the distribution of school and football kits donated by the UN-Civil Affairs Division at Biel-Nyang Primary School.

Honorable Chieng expressed his gratitude to UN-CAD for donating the school kits to support learning in the school.

The head of the mission reiterated their commitment to supporting education and stated that UN-CAD will continue its partnership with the school.

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Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng has yesterday held a leadership Meeting in the Ministry of General Education.

Tuesday, 11th May 2024-Bentiu Capital.

Under the theme: Developing a strategic plan to combat the looming flood and protect education in emergencies.

In attendance were the Acting DG, Directors, Deputy Directors and Senior Inspectors.

The Minister stressed the importance of protecting and safeguarding education at all times, including in emergencies such as floods which have hit the country and have unimaginably affected the education sector. It's not too late to develop and implement Crisis-Sensitive education plans and budgets, integrating emergency preparedness measures into the education sector planning to ensure the fulfilment of the right to quality education for all. We must ensure our policies enable Unity State to tackle the floods as we prepare for the future he said.

Minister Chieng focused his speech on Climate Action through adaptation and mitigation as follows:

1. Climate Action through Adaptation.

Climate action is taken on two fronts. First, adaptation, to cope with the impact of climate change. We have and will continue to invest in infrastructure such as the construction of enough Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) in the higher lands in Unity State with the help of the education partners to ensure that learning is not discontinued.

2. Climate Action Through Mitigation

Besides climate adaptation, we also need to take mitigation action to reduce the rampant flow of flood water through the construction of dikes with the help of the State Government to protect the learning institutions across the Unity State, Bentiu.

The directors promise the Minister to do everything possible in their respective departments for the implementation of the education plans and policies while executing their roles and responsibilities in ensuring that these plans and policies are achieved.

Unit.

: Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng inspected the Schools under renovation.

• The Schools under renovation are Vincent Kuany Secondary and Bentiu A Secondary.

• TLS constructions are ongoing in Solo Secondary and Bentiu Primary school.

Honourable Acting Governor G*i Jiejor and Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng inaugurated the Senior Four examination this morning at Bentiu [B] Secondary School.

Bentiu, Monday 4th 2023- The Honourable Acting Governor rang the bell in Bentiu B Secondary for the official commencement of the examination, in the parade he briefed the students and encouraged them to sit their examination with confidence.

In attendance, were the Town Mayor honourable Nyachieng Biey, Rubkona County Commissioner Honourable Clement Jul Dador and the government officials.

Honourable Minister, Stephen Tot wished the candidates good health and progressive study in their examination days and he encouraged them to respect and follow the examination rules to ensure that the examination is done peacefully.

Chieng urged the security operative to cooperate with the candidates and supports them when needed to ensure that no child missed the examination.

This year, the examination centres across Unity State Bentiu are ten with a total number of one thousand one hundred and thirty-six (1136) candidates where the male candidates are nine hundred and thirty (930) and female candidates are two hundred six (206).


Office of the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Unity State Bentiu.

His Excellency the Acting Governor William Dak Koay and the Honourable Minister of General and Instruction Stephen Tot Chieng officiated the Certificate of Primary Examination yesterday in Bentiu Girls Primary School

In attendance were the Minister of Information and communication, advisor for gender child and social welfare Honourable Stephen Gatliah and the State government officials.

Tuesday, November 21st 2023

His Excellency the Acting governor rang the bell for the official taking of the examination by the primary eight candidates. He encouraged the pupils to do the exam with confidence, commitment and honesty.

On his part, the honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng briefed the pupils and encouraged them to take the examination seriously by putting and applying the knowledge they acquired so that Unity State Bentiu appear not only on the top performance but also on the top ten this year.
Honourable Minister thanked and appreciated teachers for they have always been preparing the future generations of Unity State Bentiu in the education sector.

After His Excellency the Acting governor rang the bell, he headed the team and toured the examination centres in Bentiu IDP camp to check on the pupils.

The total number of the Primary Eight Candidates this year is three thousand six hundred and thirteen(3,613) whereas boys are two thousand three hundred and seventy-one (2,371) out of the total number.

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Hon. Awut Deng, the National Minister of General Education and Instruction and Hon. Stephen Tot Chieng, the State Minister of General Education and Instruction officiated the handing over of newly constructed classes in Bentiu Girls Primary School.

Wednesday, 1st, November 2023-Bentiu.

The function was attended by Hon. Acting Governor William Dak Koay, Hon. Advisors, Hon. Ministers and the Education Partners.

Hon. Minister Awut Deng, expressed her heartfelt congratulations to Honourable Minister Stephen Tot Chieng for he has been pushing the education agendas amidst devastating flooding---- the floods that have badly hit the education sector in the State where scores of hundreds of schools are underwater.

Awut promised that her leadership would be a listening leadership to the people of Unity State and do everything possible to ensure that school children are provided with more classrooms to accommodate them. Four Classrooms will be constructed in Bentiu Girls Primary School to accommodate one thousand seven hundred girls.

Minister urged the State government that shaping the School children is a collective responsibility not for the State Ministry of General Education alone.

STEMPower will be brought to Unity State and will be launched as soon as possible to help the learners she added.

On his part, the Honourable Minister, Stephen Tot Chieng thanked the National Minister of Education Hon. Awut for honouring the invitation and he declared that his administration is ready as it has always been to move education forward.
Stephen had the opportunity to appeal to the National Ministry of Education to support the State Education in constructing more TLS to accommodate returnees and flood-affected children and he further expressed his concerns about the people with special education needs.

Tot registered his vote of thanks and appreciation to the education partners for they have always been there when education needs their help the most and he pledged to maintain their partnership because it is a partnership in developing and shaping the generation of the present and the future.

UNICEF South Sudan country director Mama HamidaLasseko, applauded Honourable Minister Awut Deng and she promised that UNICEF will not move back from the circle even though more funds are cut this year she further acknowledged that Stephen is one of the Ministers UNICEF deserved to work with.

After the function, Honourable Minister Awut Deng was accompanied by the Hon. acting Governor William Dak Koay, Honourable Minister Stephen Tot and Honourable Ministers, advisors to Bentiu Airport and was seen off.


Office of the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Unity State-Bentiu.

Honourable Minister, Stephen Tot Chieng has yesterday morning met in his office with the African Development Bank Group (ADBG), delegates from the National Ministry of General Education and Instruction, delegates from the National Ministry of Finance and Planning and the team from UNICEF South Sudan.

Thursday, 26 OCT 2023-Bentiu.

The Minister briefed the African Development Bank Group led by Darlison Kaijah [the team leader] and delegates about the ongoing renovation and construction of schools in Unity State Bentiu as well as counties.

In attendance were the Director General, Director for Admin & Finance, Director for Budgeting and Planning and other Ministry officials.

During the meeting, Darlison expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the Honourable Minister for the job well done in supervising the renovation and construction process of the schools to ensure that the project is done as planned.

African Development Bank is the one funding the renovation and construction of the schools where UNICEF is the implementing agency, two of the schools have been completed and Bentiu Girls Primary School is one of the completed schools expected to be officially handed over to the State Ministry of Education by 31st of this month.

Besides the meeting, the African Development Bank Group inspected the schools under renovation and after the inspection, the Honourable Minister thanked the African Development Bank Group, delegates from the National Ministries of both Education and Finance and Planning for the visit.

Unity State government is happy with the support from ADB, National Ministry of Education he said and he further expressed his appetite demanding for more support when possible.

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Office of the Minister of General Education Unity state.