Unicef Sudan to start enrolment campaign for 300,000 out-of-school children

In cooperation with the Sudanese state Ministries of Education, and with the support of the EU and Educate A Child (EAC), Unicef will conduct a promotion campaign for the enrolment of more than 300,000 out-of-school children in the country.

The enrolment and awareness raising sessions aim to promote the importance of education and the enrolment of children, in particular among the most marginalised communities. They will start in June, in 14 of the 18 Sudanese states, including Khartoum, Kassala, El Gedaref, Red Sea, Sennar, Blue Nile, the five Darfur states, and South, West, and North Kordofan. 

In a media advisory today, Unicef states that some 3 million children between the ages of 5 to 13, from pre-basis school to lower secondary school are deprived of their basic right, the Right to Education. More than half of them are girls. A further 15 percent of the basis school pupils are at risk of dropping out before their final grade.  

“In addition,” the UN Children Fund stresses, “there are disparities in enrolment between urban and rural areas, nomads and settled population, war-affected and non-war affected populations, as well as gender and other social inequities.

“At particular risk of being excluded from school are girls, children affected by war, and displaced, nomads, children in rural areas, poor children, and some ethnic and religious groups.”

However, in an attempt to address these disparities, Unicef, with support from the EU and the Qatari Educate A Child (EAC) programme, is cooperating with the Sudanese government to reduce the number of out-of-school children by 321,561 children in 2015, with at least 50 percent being girls.

Increasing access to education is one of the key priorities in the government’s Education Sector Strategic Plan. “Education reduces poverty and increases economic growth,” Unicef states. “It is a proven fact that an added year of education can increase an individual’s income by 10 percent. Mothers’ education also reduces maternal mortality rates, and improves the survival of children.”

The campaigns aim at increasing awareness of the importance of education for girls and boys, and encourage parents to enroll their children in schools or alternative learning places (ALP) through radio flashes, posters, music, and community discussions; the promotion of on the spot registration of children at key campaign locations, engaging communities to contribute to the promotion of education for their future generations, and supporting children from poor families, by providing learning materials and educational supplies.