The Director General of the Ministry, Stephen Mayiel Gatkoi Chuol, confirmed the decision in an interview with Sudans Post on Monday.
He said the teachers were initially suspended for allegedly participating in a protest at the Bentiu IDP camp but were later found not guilty of any wrongdoing.
“All 24 headteachers who were suspended two weeks ago have been reinstated after investigations cleared them. Their suspension was linked to the IDP camp protest, but we found no evidence implicating them,” Mayiel said.
According to him, the decision to lift the suspension came after a meeting involving the headteachers and the State Minister of Education.
“We met with the 24 headteachers in the presence of the minister, and we agreed that they should return to their duties. They have now been reinstated and resumed work today (Monday),” he added.
Mayiel cautioned teachers against taking instructions from non-education authorities, referring to an earlier directive from a community committee that had ordered schools to close until court proceedings involving First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar and seven other SPLM-IO members were concluded.
“Teachers should not follow orders that do not come from the Ministry of Education. Education should not be politicized,” he warned.
The Director General further explained that the 24 reinstated headteachers were drawn from different categories of schools — eight from primary schools, eight from Alternative Learning Program (ALP) centers, and eight from secondary schools.
He said their suspension followed suspicions of involvement in peaceful demonstrations calling for the release of Dr. Riek Machar, who was allegedly detained in March following the Nasir incident.
Meanwhile, John Gatluok Koang, headteacher of Konkeel Secondary School, confirmed that they had resumed their duties after the two-week suspension.
“We have been reinstated and are now back in our offices to continue our work,” Gatluok told Sudans Post.
