137 children, one classroom: schools deteriorate in South Darfur camp

The basic schools in a camp for internally displaced people in Nyala, South Darfur, have been experiencing a deteriorating school environment. There is a significant lack of teachers, classrooms, and text books. The head of the educational council in Kalma camp, Abdallah Mohamed, told Radio Dabanga that the basic schools, including 14 co-education schools, are facing a huge shortage in space compared to the number of pupils. “There are 34,360 pupils and 250 classrooms, which are in bad need of maintenance, that has stopped since two years.” It means that 137 children have to follow a class in one room. Meanwhile, of the 304 attending teachers, only 43 come from the Ministry of Education, as the majority consists of assistants from the camp’s population. Mohamed explained that the United Nation’s Children Fund (Unicef) provides less than 25 percent of the total aid to the education field. “This along with the rise in the monthly tuition fees for this year, from SDG 10 to 15 ($1.70 – $2.60), to run the schools and pay the teachers’ incentives. The fee for the schools’ renovations amount to SDG 5 ($0.90) per pupil,” he described, calling the economic situation in the camp “difficult”. File photo: Pupils in a classroom in Abu Shouk, North Darfur (UN Link) Related: Nearly two million children out of school in Sudan (17 June 2014)