Sudan High School Exams .. The Fate Of Thousands Of Students At Stake
Date
12/30/2024 3:05:01 AM
(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
News report by Mohammad Abdulaziz
KHARTOUM, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- Mona, an 11th grade student who aspired to study medicine, had her dreams shattered after months of diligent preparations for the Sudanese high-school exam scheduled by the end of December.
This came after the Sudanese Ministry of Education decided not to establish examination centers in areas under control of the paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), preventing students from travelling to regions under the army authority to take exams, leaving the fate of thousands of students unknown.
The Education Ministry announced that the postponed 2023 certificate exams will start on December 28 in areas controlled by the army, while the 2024 exams will be held three months later. In response, the RSF described the decision to restrict the tests in the army-patrolled regions as a policy of "dividing Sudan" and accused the military authority of neglecting future of hundreds of students.
Sudanese Education Minister Ahmad Khalifa confirmed that the ministry has developed comprehensive security plans to secure 343,000 students, during the exams, distributed among 2,300 centers in and outside Sudan.
He added that the exams would be held in the afternoon, the first time in history. And, parents have been worried about safety of their children, fearing possible drone or bombing attacks.
Meanwhile, press reports indicated that the RSF prevented students from reaching areas under army control, according to the ministry. Only 12,721 students had arrived in safe areas for the tests.
Moreover, Sudanese refugee students in chad are facing more challenges, as the Chadian government has imposed its national curriculum, thus they are deprived of taking the Sudanese certificate exams.
"The war has destroyed my dream and those of thousands others, the effort we put in preparing for the exam was in vain, and the destroyed schools made learning impossible," Mona told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
She appealed to the warring parties, the army and the irregular RSF that have been engaged in a bloody war against backdrop of a power struggle, to cease fire and achieve peace so that students can resume studies safely.
The teachers committee criticized the Education Ministry and said the current exams deepen divisions among the Sudanese. It declared that the number of students taking exams did not exceed 200,000 out of more than 500,000.
A member of the committee's executive office, Ali Obeid, confirmed that if exams are held, more than 60 percent of students will not be able to show up for the tests, thus they will be deprived of continuing their education.
"We support continuation of education for any number of students. But we refuse any educational process that excludes a large number of Sudanese," he said.
The embassies of Canada, Germany and Britain expressed their concern in a joint statement about risks the students face when they move across conflict lines, noting that the decision to restrict the holding of the exams in areas under army control deepens education gaps and inequality among the juniors.
The war has turned more than 10,000 schools into shelters for displaced people or military barracks, depriving about 19 million children of education, according to a UNICEF report. (end) mam
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