‘Lower success rate caused by classroom shortage’: Darfur governor

The lower success rate of basic school pupils in the latest examinations in South Darfur is the result of an acute shortage of classrooms and the lack of seating, the Governor claimed. Children from Jebel Marra also sat for exams in South Darfur.

The Ministry of Education in South Darfur announced that 69 percent of the grade 8 pupils who sat for exams in March achieved positive results, two percent lower than the previous year. Basic school examinations are a key prerequisite to receiving the Basic Education Certificate.

State Governor Adam El Faki has pointed to the shortage of classrooms and school seating material as the main reasons behind the lower success rate.

At a news conference in Nyala on Saturday, El Faki said that more than 3,134 classrooms in the state are built of local material, such as straw. This does not benefit the quality of the education.

Insecurity caused by the military offensive against armed rebels in Jebel Marra over the past three months led to the relocation of school examinations in parts of Jebel Marra to Mershing and Kass in South Darfur.

El Hadi Abdelrahman, the director-general of the Ministry of Education in South Darfur, told reporters in March that it was “impossible” to continue school activities and hold examinations in the area because of the ongoing insecurity.

Reports from western Jebel Marra in March included attacks by militiamen on school boys on their way to sit for exams in Golo. Two boys were wounded in an aerial bombardment.

At the time of the basic school exams, Unicef reported that 68 percent of the then 90,000 displaced people in Jebel Marra were children. It said that there were more than 6,626 emergency-effected eighth graders (58 percent girls) whose chances of taking the Grade 8 final exams were at risk.