Observers also raised questions about the fairness of this ExamsEstimates indicate that about 400,000 students out of 600,000 will not be able to take exams due to the ongoing war in the country since mid-April 2023, which has destabilized the educational conditions of millions of students.
While the Sudanese Ministry of Education confirmed taking all necessary measures to make these exams successful, local councils in the regions considered… Fighting Holding exams without enabling all students to take them is a type of discrimination that threatens the country’s unity.
Reports also indicated that a number of students who attempted to take exams in safe areas were subjected to arrest under the so-called “strange faces” law.
For its part, the Teachers Committee said Sudan Holding exams without adhering to the requirements of inclusion and justice paves the way for the fragmentation of the country and the destruction of its social fabric.
Big controversy
There were conflicting opinions about the safety and fairness of conducting exams in the current circumstances.
The Supreme Committee for Examination Administration of the Ministry of Education in Port Sudan confirmed the completion of arrangements and preparations for holding the exams.
Undersecretary of the Ministry, Ahmed Al-Khalifa Omar, said that the Ministry is completely reassured, and pointed to the adoption of emergency centers in some cities for students who were unable to register due to war conditions, stressing the readiness of those centers to receive late students even one day before the exams are held, to enable them to sit for the exam.
He added that the Ministry agreed to sit the students who did not take this exam on the next date in March 2025, that is, three months after the current exam.
But the Sudanese Teachers Committee warned against the move, and said in a statement: “Students Darfur All those who did not leave their states, in addition to the students of Gezira State and the largest part of Khartoum State, will not be able to sit for the certification exams except by moving to the states under the control of the army, on a dangerous journey.”
The statement added: “Continuing education without adhering to the requirements of inclusion and justice paves the way for the fragmentation of the country and the destruction of its social fabric.”
According to the statement, the insistence on holding exams in light of the current situation places education as one of the “weapons of war, and a tool to punish students and their parents to remain in their states.”
The committee called for creating favorable conditions to provide the opportunity for all students to sit through an announcement cease-fire Throughout the examination period and adherence to the principles of inclusion and fairness.
The official spokesman for the Teachers’ Committee, Sami Al-Baqir, told Sky News Arabia: “The only guarantee for the safety of students and the achievement of justice is to declare a ceasefire during the exam period. I believe that the security situation with the continuation of the war is not guaranteed.”
Al-Baqir held the current government responsible for any risks that students or teachers supervising may be exposed to Exams.
Concerns for the safety of examinees
The fighting is currently spreading in about 70 percent of the country’s regions, including areas that traditionally constituted the center of gravity in secondary school exams, such as the capital. Khartoum And the state of Gezira and the Darfur region, which data indicate that their share of the total number of people sitting for exams during the past years amounted to more than 60 percent of the total number of people sitting annually.
Other areas in the White Nile, Sennar, Blue Nile and Kordofan are also exposed to dangerous security conditions that make it very difficult to hold exams there.
Out of a total of 18 states in Sudan, it continues the study Currently, it is almost regular in only 5 states: the North, the Nile River, the Red Sea, Gedaref, and Kassala, but recent weeks have witnessed attacks on several cities in those states, especially Atbara, Merowe, and Shendi in the Nile River and the North, which raises concerns for the safety of examinees as well.
Security and logistical obstacles
Amid complex security and logistical obstacles, hundreds of thousands of students face great difficulties in enrolling in the areas designated for holding exams, some of which are more than a thousand kilometers away from the student areas, interspersed with areas of violent fighting and concentration points, and there have been reports of dangerous racist practices affecting those passing through.
The past few weeks have witnessed the arrest of a number of students who tried to reach examination centers after traveling hundreds of kilometers, and some of them were sentenced to death and others to prison.
Reports had spoken about the arrest of student Omar Abdel Hadi and his sentencing to 5 years in prison in one of the northern state courts after he was arrested when he came from West Kordofan to register for exams.
Abdul Hadi’s brother said on his page on: Facebook His brother was arrested in October on charges of belonging to one of the parties to the fighting, and reports were opened and charges were filed under the terms of rebellion against the state. He explained, “My 19-year-old brother has no connection to any party. They asked us for official documents and we sent them to the court, all of which prove that he has no connection to any party, but in the end they sentenced him to 5 years in prison.”
In this context, educational councils in Darfur refused to transfer students from the region sitting for exams outside the state based on their adherence to the students’ right to sit for exams in their regions in light of the current security and economic conditions.
The Educational Council in South Darfur said: “The future of students and their education cannot be traded for political machinations, as a large portion of Sudanese people are deprived of exercising their academic right.”
