UNICEF has helped hundreds of students in South Sudan to sit their primary school graduation exam as bullets flew and civil unrest reigned.

The incredible efforts of the children’s’ education fund puts the occasional chaos of the return to school in Australia into stark perspective.

Thousands have been unable to take the Primary Leaving Education - an essential step for South Sudanese students to continue onto secondary level study - due to fighting and violence across the nation, and in the capital city of Juba in recent weeks.

Although it is a primary school graduation exam, many of the students sitting this week’s tests are aged between 17 and 19.

Their age reflects the years of study they have missed as a result of the brutal conflict on the path to becoming an independent nation.

Independence came in 20112, allowing students like 19-year-old Gatluak Tung Gatluak to put down their weapons and pick up a more powerful tool – the pen.

“Not only have I lost four brothers and a friend during the clashes, but I lost all my books when we had to flee our home,” Mr Gatluak said.

“This will definitely affect my performance,” the teenager said

UNICEF worked with the South Sudan State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Central Equatoria State, and peacekeepers at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Their combined efforts ensured students living in the compounds did not miss their exams and the opportunity to continue with their schooling.

“Taking a primary school leaving exam is a major milestone in education and we are impressed by the courage and determination of these young students to pursue their education under the most difficult of circumstances,” UNICEF South Sudan country representative Iyorlumun Uhaa said.

“We will do everything we can to help these young students through to secondary education and a chance at the future they so deserve.”