Vocational training institutions to reopen in Sudan

Preparations are underway to reopen technical education and vocational training institutions in Sudan. They had been closed after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Sudan in March.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Sudan is preparing a new strategy to advance technical and technological education in the country.

In the first phase, four schools will be reopened: The Omdurman Technical School for Girls, the Sudanese-Korean Centre, and the vocational training centres in El Jereif East and Khartoum II.

A Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) project of UNESCO in Sudan was set up in 2016. It aims to advance youth employment, access to decent work, entrepreneurship and lifelong learning opportunities. The programme also promotes equity and gender equality, and facilitates the transition to a green economy and a sustainable society.

Dr Mahjoub Mekki, Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Sudan, said that hospitals and also isolation centres must be designated where vocational students can be referred if they are injured during the training or infected with COVID-19. He stated that the WHO has developed a protocol regarding the gradual return of students to schools and universities.

The beginning of the new school year, originally scheduled on September 27, has been postponed to November 22. Only the students who will sit for the final examinations, year eight basic school pupils and third year secondary school students, will commence earlier, on October 11.

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