Jebel Marra basic school students write exams in North Darfur

The North Darfur Ministry of Education and Guidance has announced the start of the basic school examinations in all the state’s localities next Saturday.

Idris Ibrahim, Director-General of the North Darfur Education Ministry, told reporters in the state capital of El Fasher that “the number of students who registered for the North Darfur basic school examinations this year amounts to 34,288”.

The students will be distributed over 143 centres. The 3,387 students living in the camps for the displaced around El Fasher will be distributed over 19 centres in Abu Shouk, Abuja, and Zamzam camps.

Students from Jebel Marra who fled to North Darfur camps for the displaced are allowed to take part in the exams.

The 319 recently displaced students from Jebel Marra will sit their exams in emergency examination centres in the Tawila and Kabkabiya localities.

No mention was made of the students taking shelter near the Unamid team site in Sortony, where according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs more than 62,000 people sought protection from attacks by government forces during the past few weeks.

The Mount Marra area became part of Central Darfur in the 2012 re-division of Darfur into five states.

Education

After kindergarten, Sudanese children can enter the basic school that comprises eight years. Based on the results of the final examinations, the students are allowed to attend a secondary school that takes four years of hard study and examinations to obtain the Sudan Certificate.

Depending on the results, students can then apply for a study at one of the many universities in the country. Vocational schools are relatively scarce.