By XINHUA

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South Sudanese government and multilateral partners on Thursday launched a national campaign that will see more than 700,000 children enroll back in school.

A statement from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) issued in Juba, said the campaign will help 709,002 children enroll for early childhood education, primary or alternative education programs.

"The campaign is part of the national Back to Learning initiative, providing learning opportunities to children currently out of school," said Unicef.

An estimated of 2.2 million children were pushed out of school due to more than five years of conflict that devastated the economy and left thousands dead and millions displaced.

Unicef said that while access to free quality education is a basic child right, the campaign is focused on reaching the most vulnerable, the ones who are less likely to access education services without support.

Meanwhile, South Sudan said Thursday it plans to conduct a national survey next month to ascertain its population to help the government in planning and development after more than six years of conflict.

Isaiah Chol, Head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said that they are seeking approval and funding to conduct a population survey across the country.

"The reason is that we had a population census in 2008 and whatever data that was collected at the time is outdated and not much useful," Chol told journalists in Juba.

The 2008 census estimated the youngest nation's population at eight million. Chol revealed that the census was supposed to be conducted in 2014 after independence in 2011 from Sudan but failed to take place following the outbreak of conflict in December 2013.