In anticipation of a 45°C heatwave, South Sudan closes its schools

South Sudan's schools will close on Monday due to a two-week heatwave, with health and education ministries recommending indoors for children.

With a severe heatwave expected to last for two weeks, all South Sudanese schools will be shuttered starting on Monday. Given the forecast high of 45 °C (113 °F), the ministries of health and education have advised parents to keep their children indoors.

The message, which was made public late on Saturday, threatened to cancel the registration of any school discovered to be open during the warning period but did not specify how long classes would be closed. The ministries said, "We will keep an eye on the situation and update the public accordingly." Peter Garang, a native of Juba in the capital, praised the choice. He said, "Schools had to be wired into the electrical system in order to install air conditioners." South Sudan is particularly vulnerable to the climate issue since it is one of the world's youngest nations, with periodic heatwaves that rarely see temperatures beyond 40 °C (104 °F).

The country in east Africa has terrible living conditions as a result of flooding, drought, and civil unrest. According to the World Food Programme's most current country brief, South Sudan "continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis" due to war, economic instability, climate change, and a flood of refugees fleeing the fighting in neighboring Sudan. It also stated that 818,000 people who were deemed vulnerable got food and cash assistance in January.