27 percent of Sudanese children deprived of education

A joint study conducted by the Sudanese government and the United Nations Fund for Children (Unicef) revealed that 2,000,700 Sudanese children are deprived of education, most of them living in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile. According to the study, of which the results were published on Sunday in the Sudanese newspapers, the 2,000,700 children constitute about 27 percent of the age group between 10-19 years old. It states that the most important reasons behind the deprivation from education in Sudan are war, displacement and poverty. The illiteracy rate in Sudan amounts to 32 percent of the population, which is equivalent to nine million people. Boarding schools Educational experts and specialists have called for the importance of re-establishing the “boarding school system”, in particular for the states of Darfur, South Kordofan, the Blue Nile and the eastern states in Sudan, because of the insecurity and the economic conditions in those states. During the 25th Coordinating Forum held in the Blue Nile State last week educational experts, apart from the idea of boarding schools, discussed the severe shortage of textbooks and seating furniture, especially in the peripheral states and the lack of teacher trainings. During the Forum it also became clear that the floods and rains which hit the country last year, caused significant damage to the infrastructure of the schools in a number of states. 4,737 schools and 861,783 students were affected. File photo: Girls’ school in Kabkabiya, North Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related:South Darfur’s El Radoom lacks security, health services: citizens (10 January 2014)One third of Sudanese children don’t attend school (29 December 2013)Significant increase in child marriages in Darfur (17 December 2013)