The United Nations was announcing 400,000 more children in school this year, with a £27m project to re-start lessons after the disruption of war.
But instead there have been angry denunciations and war-weary condemnations as 89 children have been abducted by an armed group in Malakal in the north of South Sudan.
With no little poignancy for an education campaign, Unicef says they were abducted while preparing for exams.
And the official figure is believed to be a substantial underestimate of the numbers of youngsters kidnapped and taken to a training camp to become child soldiers.
John Budd, Unicef's spokesman in South Sudan, said it had left families "very scared and fearful", but there was much work going on to try to get the children back.
"I like to be an optimist, but I temper it. I'm a realist as well and there are 12,000 children who are child soldiers in this country."
Attacks on schools
There have been groups of child soldiers released and disarmed, but so far only a minority.
"I wish I could say it was going in the right direction. The reality is that the numbers are stuck at a stubbornly high level.