Education in Sudan

Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, Sudan established by the British colonial authorities

Education in Sudan is free and/or compulsory for children aged 6 to 13 years. Primary education up to the 2019/2020 academic year consists of eight years, followed by three years of secondary education.[1] The primary/secondary educational ladder of 6+3+3 years was switched in 1965 and during the Omar al-Bashir presidency to 8+3[2] and is scheduled, during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, to return to 6+3+3 in the 2020/2021 academic year.[1] The primary language at all levels is Arabic. Starting in the 2020/2021 academic year, English is to be taught starting at kindergarten.[3] Schools are concentrated in urban areas; many in the South and West were damaged or destroyed by years of civil war. In 2001 the World Bank estimated that primary enrolment was 46 percent of eligible pupils and 21 percent of secondary students. Enrolment varies widely, falling below 20 percent in some provinces. Sudan has 36 government universities and 19 private universities, in which instruction is primarily in Arabic.[2]

Education at the secondary and university levels is seriously hampered by the requirement that most males perform military service before completing their education.[4] During the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, the percentage of the national budget spent on education is planned to increase from the al-Bashir 2018 value of 3 percent[5] to 20 percent.[1][3]

The literacy rate in 2018 was 60.7% of total population, male: 65.4%, female: 56.1%.[6]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)[7] finds that Sudan is fulfilling only 42.3% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.[8] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Sudan's income level, the nation is achieving 47.0% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 37.6% for secondary education.[8]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Dabanga_Education_20percent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Education in Sudan: A Long History but Deeply Troubled Reality". Fanack. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-12-12.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Dabanga_Education_understanding was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Sudan country profile. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (December 2004). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dabanga_Education_3percent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Africa :: Sudan — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  7. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  8. ^ a b "Sudan - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-28.