Report SalaaMedia
Fears and concerns are increasing day after day that continuation of the war in Sudan will cause more than five million children and about 100,000 students in higher education institutions to lose their right to education in the Darfur region. The war caused widespread destruction on education infrastructure in the region, which led to the disruption of educational process in all states of the region, except in some areas thanks to the initiatives of local communities.
In this report, SalaaMedia team highlights the state of education and volume of damage to various education facilities in the region, as well as the number of affected students, in addition to local initiatives contributing to providing opportunities for some students to continue their education.
Education Facilities
There are approximately 4,000 schools in Darfur at different levels, including nomadic remote education. There are 784 schools in North Darfur, 1,018 schools in West Darfur, 477 schools in Central Darfur, 2,716 schools in South Darfur, and 88 schools in East Darfur.
Higher Education
All universities and higher education institutes are located in the main cities of the five states inclusively. In South Darfur state, there are more than 22,000 students studying in eight universities/colleges. In North Darfur, there are 33 universities/colleges with approximately 20,000 students, while in East Darfur State there are more than 14,438 students in only one University, according to Dr. Al-Sadiq Abdullah,
Deputy Director of Al Deain University. While there are 12,000 students at Zalingei and Sudan Open Universities in Central Darfur, and more than 5,000 students’ study at El Geneina University in West Darfur.
Student statistics
It wasn’t possible for SalaaMedia team obtaining accurate statistics of the numbers of students in the region’s Basic/Primary and Secondary Schools, however, depended on the numbers of students who sat for the final exams of the academic year 2022-2023, as an indicator only.
| State | Sudan Certificate | Primary Certificate | Basic Certificate |
| S. Darfur | 37,446 Student | 43,000 Student | 52,013 Student |
| E. Darfur | 9,466 Student | 16,318 Student | 16 , 506 Student |
| C. Darfur | 12,182 Student | 15,621 Student | 20,362 Student |
| W. Darfur | 10,658 Student | 17,296 Student | 18,332 Student |
| N. Darfur | 35,236 Student | 55,154 Student | 60,815 Student |
Local Initiatives
Despite the current circumstances, communities and education departments – under the civil administration formed by the Rapid Support Forces – in various states-initiated efforts to resume studies. Early this year, West Darfur State announced resumption of schools upon sponsoring the maintenance of seven primary schools and the Ministry’s printing press – which were damaged by the war – by the Norwegian Church Council. A group of youth from the El Geneina also launched an initiative to resume primary schools, which included more than 1,000 children. While a popular initiative in Tawila locality in North Darfur state provided education opportunities for more than 1,000 students in nine schools in the locality. SalaaMedia has recorded several individual initiatives in North Darfur to teach children at home. At the level of higher education, Al Daein University has taken three paths to enable its students to continue their studies, through signing a memorandum of understanding with the University of Juba to enable some of its students to complete their studies in South Sudan as a first track. Dr. Al-Sadiq Abdullah, the Vice Chancellor of the University, said that only 14 students have benefited from this agreement so far. He added that the second track was to mobilize the local community to support resuming of studies at the Main Campus in Al Daein, and as a result, 738 students were graduated. While the third track, the university provided its students in the rest of the safe states of the country with opportunities to enroll in the universities of those states, in addition to accommodating 72 students from other universities within Darfur region.
The issue of education in Darfur during the current war, remains one of the invisible disasters compared to other grave violations. Its importance diminishes in the face of death, displacement, famine and disease. Despite this, the education disaster is reflected in the huge numbers of pupils and students who lost their right to education as a result of the war, including those born in the absence and destruction of the education infrastructure. However, these children are considered as future time bombs, who might become fuel for the continuation of war. The efforts of various parties here and there can be described as timid attempts to the call for reopening of schools. On the other hand, there has been a growth in local efforts trying to light candles of education in the deep darkness of war. As for international efforts, modest efforts were made by UNICEF and other international organizations. All of the above is a reason to open the education file in Darfur in light of the current war, in order to draw attention to the scale of this disaster and its impact on future generations.