Summary
This webinar explores how South Sudan transformed the collection of data on students with disabilities through its Education Management Information System (EMIS), moving from manual records to digital tools and incorporating the Washington Group Questions. This shift significantly improved data accuracy, increasing the number of identified students with disabilities from 6,000 to over 41,000, and helping reshape national education policy to be more inclusive.
What began as a standard bi-weekly team meeting at the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) evolved into an inspiring global webinar, “From Invisibility to Impact: Reforming Disability Data Systems within EMIS,” thanks to the extraordinary dedication of Marie Schoeman, her program and technical colleagues, and representatives from South Sudan’s Ministry of Education. Originally invited to share internal research, the team’s work was so transformative that the CIP team decided to open the session to a wider audience interested in inclusive education and how South Sudan is successfully reforming its education data systems with inclusion as a guiding light.
The session opened with Marie Schoeman, Disability Inclusion Technical Advisor, who provided a short overview of the Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) program. She explained that while the program reaches 2.6 million girls across 4,600 schools, this second phase, that started in 2019, specifically elevated disability to a cross-cutting issue. The GESS programme is funded by UKAID and co-funded by the Governments of Sweden and Norway, Canada, the European Union, and previously USAID.
A standout finding of her presentation was the direct impact of CIP’s informative materials; she noted that CIP’s videos on the “extra costs of disability” were pivotal in convincing the South Sudanese government to extend cash transfers to boys with disabilities. Previously, these transfers were reserved for girls, but this policy shift means thousands of boys with disabilities are now also receiving the financial support they need to stay in school.
Representing the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Mr. Girr Mabior, Deputy-Director of South Sudan’s Education Management Information Systems (EMIS), reflected on the early hurdles of data collection, such as poor school-level record-keeping, inconsistencies across data sources, and a lack of awareness about disability data collection among teachers. He described how the Ministry shifted from slow, paper-based systems to electronic data collection and began training their teachers to do appropriate data collection.
Rachel Gondwe, Disability Technical Advisor, then detailed the technical transition to the Washington Group Questions (WGQs). Previously, there was very little data on the enrollment of children with disabilities. She shared the staggering result that shifting from subjective teacher assessments to these functional questions increased the number of identified children with disabilities from 6,000 to 41,000 in a single year. This number has dropped again between 2020 and 2025, because of improved data validation interventions, but still stands at more than 24,000 which is a significant achievement for the country.
This data is now used in practical ways to inform the cash transfer program. Learners with disabilities are verified to ensure they receive incentives to stay in school, and in 2024 these transfers were extended to boys with disabilities, as well. The data is also used for capitation grants–the funds provided to primary and secondary schools based on the number of enrolled students–with specific codes identifying the proportion of funds allocated to disability inclusion concessions. For the first time, schools have now started taking ownership of inclusive education by planning on how to support learners with disabilities enrolled.
At the national level, the numbers inform the National Examinations Council in identifying the accommodations students may need during exams. The data also helps the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, whose remit includes issues related to persons with disabilities, to initiate referral processes for support services.
The technological backbone of these reforms was presented by Data Lead Anthony Otieno, who demonstrated the bespoke Schools’ Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS) mobile application developed for education data collection. He highlighted that the app was designed to be “offline-first,” allowing officials to collect data in remote areas without internet access and sync the data later. This breakthrough reduced data turnaround time to just 48 hours. Another advance is that the system now tracks multiple disabilities and specific budget codes, ensuring that there is a clear provision for inclusive education in the Ministry budget.
The presentation concluded with the powerful testimony of Ben Lou Poggo, Director for Inclusive Education, who is himself visually impaired. He explained that earlier data systems captured mainly visible disabilities, leaving many children with non-visible disabilities unidentified and without support, which reinforced stigmatizing narratives around the inclusion of learners with ‘behavioral challenges’ in general education classrooms. With the introduction of the Washington Group Questions, the Ministry now has clearer data on a broader array of learners with disabilities, helping officials plan better and identify needs, such as how many students may require Braille or large-print materials. As Poggo noted, this shift in data has strengthened the government’s commitment to ensuring that “nobody is left behind.”
This session proved that even in challenging contexts, data can be a tool for dignity and inclusion. As CIP CEO Daniel Mont concluded, it is inspiring to see data “actually being used and having an impact on students’ lives.”
We invite you to watch the full video of this webinar to witness the live demonstration of the data platforms and hear the full story of South Sudan’s journey from invisibility to impact.