Sudan education re-opening unconfirmed

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education in El Gedaref announced that no dates have been set for the resumption of studies in the state yet. 

Abdelwahab Awad, Director General of the Ministry of Education, told Radio Dabanga that the state has formed a committee to make recommendations regarding the start dates of the school year. “The committee will suggest appropriate educational solutions with regards to the schools that have been turned into shelter centres,” he said. 

 Activists from the emergency room in El Gedaref told Radio Dabanga that “approximately 50 schools in the state have turned into shelters for displaced people, and the humanitarian conditions there are deteriorating rapidly.” 

As previously reported, Sudan’s education sector is divided over the decision to resume studies this month, with many schools stressing their inability to find alternatives to shelter the displaced due to the difficulty of constructing camps with a lack of appropriate funding. Many believe it is important to stop the war before considering education resumes. 

Many educators have also expressed their apprehensions regarding the re-opening of schools and universities, due to schools becoming shelters and the continued non-payment of teachers since the outbreak of the war. 

The Association of Presidents of Public University Council said that all parties that issued the decision to resume studies at universities lack legitimacy and do not have any authority to issue such decisions. 

“The re-opening of higher education institutions according to the impact of the war on each state paves the way for emotional separation between the nation’s regions. It threatens to divide the country,” said the statement published yesterday. 

“We need a comprehensive solution for all students. Many of the so-called safe states are suffering from the spread of dengue fever, cholera, and malaria.”