JUBA, Southern Sudan, 13 July 2009 – Michael Lual is worried that this might be his last year of school. The 17-year-old is one of the top students at Juba Day School in Juba, Southern Sudan, but he is struggling to pay his school fees.

Michael's father died during Sudan's civil war, and he now lives in Juba with his uncle so that he can attend a better school. His five siblings live in a village outside Juba with their mother.

Michael and his teachers say that although the Government of Southern Sudan announced a policy last year to reward the best students with free schooling, Michael and his classmates are still waiting for financial aid to continue their education.

Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states that children have the right to a quality education and should be encouraged to continue to the highest academic level they can achieve. It is an ideal that is difficult to attain in a low-income, post-conflict region such as Southern Sudan.

Some of Michael's friends can't afford to go to school at all. One of them, Peter Ding-Ding, told Michael that he has to choose between paying school fees and finding enough for his mother and siblings to eat. Peter stopped going to school after finishing his primary education.

Even Michael sometimes finds that he has less food on his plate when he is saving for the next round of school fees. "It's hard to study when you're hungry," he says. "The government should give money to the top students because [by doing so] it can encourage others."

In June, Michael was one of the participants in a week-long radio production workshop for 10 young people from Juba. UNICEF Radio – in partnership with UNICEF's Back on Track Programme on Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition, the UNICEF Southern Sudan office and Southern Sudan Radio – conducted the workshop with five boys and five girls chosen from local schools.

The youths learned how to record, edit, write and produce a radio piece of their own.

Michael chose to produce a piece about school fees. Southern Sudan Radio broadcast it on 16 June to commemorate the Day of the African Child.

JUBA, Southern Sudan, 13 July 2009 – Michael Lual is worried that this might be his last year of school. The 17-year-old is one of the top students at Juba Day School in Juba, Southern Sudan, but he is struggling to pay his school fees.

Michael's father died during Sudan's civil war, and he now lives in Juba with his uncle so that he can attend a better school. His five siblings live in a village outside Juba with their mother.

Michael and his teachers say that although the Government of Southern Sudan announced a policy last year to reward the best students with free schooling, Michael and his classmates are still waiting for financial aid to continue their education.

Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states that children have the right to a quality education and should be encouraged to continue to the highest academic level they can achieve. It is an ideal that is difficult to attain in a low-income, post-conflict region such as Southern Sudan.

Some of Michael's friends can't afford to go to school at all. One of them, Peter Ding-Ding, told Michael that he has to choose between paying school fees and finding enough for his mother and siblings to eat. Peter stopped going to school after finishing his primary education.

Even Michael sometimes finds that he has less food on his plate when he is saving for the next round of school fees. "It's hard to study when you're hungry," he says. "The government should give money to the top students because [by doing so] it can encourage others."

In June, Michael was one of the participants in a week-long radio production workshop for 10 young people from Juba. UNICEF Radio – in partnership with UNICEF's Back on Track Programme on Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition, the UNICEF Southern Sudan office and Southern Sudan Radio – conducted the workshop with five boys and five girls chosen from local schools.

The youths learned how to record, edit, write and produce a radio piece of their own.

Michael chose to produce a piece about school fees. Southern Sudan Radio broadcast it on 16 June to commemorate the Day of the African Child.