Schools shut, exams cancelled: War shatters Sudan's education sector
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[August 10, 2023]
By Adam Makary
CAIRO (Reuters) - When war in Sudan's capital forced Sarah al-Sharif and
her family to flee, the 19-year-old information technology student left
her books and computer behind.
Now in Sennar, 30km (18 miles) southeast of Khartoum, she lacks a stable
internet connection or passport to travel abroad and like many others
sees no way of continuing her studies while fighting between rival
military factions rages.
The conflict, which began in mid-April, has pushed Sudan's faltering
education system into a state of collapse, with many schools shut down
or repurposed to host displaced people, and most national end-of-year
exams cancelled.
"This war has spelled the end of education in Sudan, and things have
turned from bad to impossible," said Sharif.
The conflict has brought daily battles to the streets of Khartoum, a
revival of ethnically-targeted attacks in Darfur, and the displacement
of more than 4 million people within Sudan and across its borders.
According to Simone Vis of UNICEF in Sudan, there are "an alarming
number of reports that both boys and girls are being recruited by armed
groups".
At least 89 schools across seven states are being used as shelters for
the displaced, according the United Nations, raising fears that many
children will have no access to schools in the new academic year and
could be exposed to child labour and abuse.
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On Wednesday, the education minister cancelled most end of year school
exams in war-affected areas.
"In the current circumstances, anyone would see that it is impossible to
have a new academic year," said Sahar Abdullah, a displaced teacher from
Khartoum also seeking refuge in Sennar.
TEACHERS STRIKE
Even before the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid
Support Forces (RSF), Save The Children ranked Sudan as one of the top
four countries globally where education was at extreme risk.
Now the number of children out of school has risen to 9 million from 6.9
million, more than one million school-aged children have been displaced
and at least 10,400 schools have been closed since fighting started,
according to the charity.
While Khartoum has a proud intellectual tradition, the schooling system
had been run down by underinvestment, political interference and a
grinding economic crisis. It was then disrupted by street protests
before and after the 2019 ousting of former leader Omar al-Bashir, by
unusually heavy floods in 2020 and by the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to overcrowded school classrooms, "some of the students would bring
chairs with them to class. There weren't enough textbooks to help
teachers do their job," said Abdullah, the displaced teacher.
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![](../images/081023PIX/news_y36.jpg)
Halime Adam Moussa, a Sudanese refugee
who is seeking refuge in Chad for a second time, walks out of her
shelter while children play, near the border between Sudan and Chad
in Koufroun, Chad, May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
State-employed teachers staged a three-month strike over pay and
working conditions just before the war broke out. As many as 300,000
teachers have not been paid since March, a senior member of the
Sudanese Teachers' Committee said.
"I haven't been paid a salary in four months, and I have no idea
when I'll return to work," said Fatima Mohamed, a displaced teacher
who fled Khartoum to Gedaraf state after her school was overtaken by
the RSF.
'WAIT AND HOPE'
Despite the interruptions in recent years, Rabab Nasreldeen had
managed to get to the third year of law studies at the University of
Khartoum when the war broke out.
Then she too had to flee, abandoning educational certificates and
papers that might allow her to continue studying elsewhere. "The
only option we have is to wait and hope for the best," she said.
Aid workers are trying to help alleviate the crisis, setting up safe
learning spaces and providing children with psychosocial support.
Education Cannot Wait, the U.N. global fund dedicated to education
in emergencies, has raised $12.5 million and aims to provide
educational services for 120,000 children in Sudan and neighbouring
countries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents in wealthy countries "didn't
want the children to wait a year or a month for their education,"
said Yasmine Sherif, the fund's executive director.
"So why should we expect them (in Sudan) to wait for education until
the conflict is over?"
Some of those who have fled Sudan are seeking entry to schools and
universities outside its borders, including in Egypt. But in Chad,
where more than 377,000 refugees have arrived, there are no such
options.
"I cannot go back to continue my education and I lost contact with
my family," Khalifa Adam, a displaced student who escaped to Adre,
Chad from Darfur, told Reuters. "I was told I can continue studying
online but the internet connection here in Adre is very bad."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Aug/10/images/ads/current/goodman_sda_FAIR_2022.png)
(Reporting by Adam Makary in Cairo; additional reporting by Khalid
Abdelaziz in Dubai and El Tayeb Siddig in Adre, Chad; editing by
Aidan Lewis, William Maclean)
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