SOUTH SUDAN’S government is closing all schools from tomorrow as the country prepares for an extreme heatwave.

Parents are advised to keep all children indoors because temperatures are expected to soar to 45°C for two weeks, the Health and Education Ministries said in a statement at the weekend.

They warned that any school found open during that time would have its registration withdrawn, but there was no information on how long the closures would last.

The ministries said they would “continue to monitor the situation and inform the public accordingly.”

Peter Garang, a resident of the capital Juba, welcomed the decision and said that “schools should be connected to the electricity grid” to enable the installation of air conditioners.

South Sudan is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with heatwaves common but temperatures rarely exceeding 40°C. 

Civil conflict has plagued the east African country, which also suffers from drought and flooding.

In its latest country briefing, the World Food Programme said that South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of refugees from the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. 

The United Nations agency also stated that 818,000 vulnerable people had received food and cash-based transfers in January.