Sudan: An Entire Generation at Stake

Dr. Elshafie Khidir Saeid

The catastrophe of war in Sudan extends far beyond crumbled cities and lost
lives, it reaches deep into the future itself. While the world celebrates the
laughter of students and their academic achievements, in Sudan between 250,000 and
300,000 students—most of them in Darfur and Kordofan—are being deprived of
sitting for the unified Sudanese Secondary School Certificate Examination
scheduled for April 13. This certificate remains their only gateway to
universities and higher institutes, and the path toward dreams that are
shattered by the very first bullet of war. The war has turned education in
Sudan into a hostage of military geography. Students in Darfur and Kordofan now
face a dead end: they cannot sit for the unified examinations within their own
regions, nor are they able to travel to areas under the control of the Sudanese
army.

Deprivation
of education is no longer merely a collateral consequence of war; it has become
part of the political and military equation of the conflict—a weapon wielded by
both sides. The Federal Ministry of Education, based in Port Sudan, cannot
establish examination centers in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces
for obvious reasons, and it has declared that it will not send examination
papers to those areas due to inability to guarantee their security. Its
proposed solution is for students living under RSF control to travel to areas
under army control in order to sit for the exams.

Yet this
proposal, despite its apparent simplicity, fails to address the problem in
practical terms. Any student willing to undertake such a journey would face
roads fraught with danger, stringent security procedures, and travel and
accommodation costs that most families—already economically devastated and
displaced by the war—simply cannot afford. This is to say nothing of the
particular dangers confronting female students.

On the
other side, the Rapid Support Forces have reportedly prevented students from
traveling to examination centers in army-controlled areas and have announced
plans to organize a parallel examination within the territories under their
control. At first glance, this may appear to be a humanitarian solution. In
reality, however, it carries the seeds of a time bomb threatening Sudan’s
unity. It also faces a fundamental dilemma: the strong likelihood that such
certificates will not be recognized—not only within Sudan but also
internationally, as the European Union has already indicated.

Thus,
Sudanese students in areas under RSF control find themselves facing two bitter
choices: either take the exam in their region and receive a certificate that
lacks national and international recognition, or risk their lives in pursuit of
a recognized certificate they may never reach. In this way, the Sudanese
Secondary School Certificate Examination has been transformed from an
educational milestone into a political file used in the struggle for legitimacy
between the two warring sides. Each party seeks to demonstrate its ability to
administer the state within its areas of control, making education one of the
tools of this demonstration—while ignoring the fact that an entire generation
is being pushed toward uncertainty and loss.

The issue
is far more serious than an educational crisis; it represents a systematic
dismantling of one of the pillars of the national state. Unified education has
always been among the most important factors preserving the unity of national
consciousness, because it creates shared experiences and connections among
generations. When education as one of the most vital institutions of the
nation-state becomes divided, the common bonds among citizens weaken, and the
psychological and emotional foundations are laid for the eventual division of
Sudan into two states. Indeed, signs of what might be called an “emotional
separation” are already beginning to appear between communities living
under the two rival authorities.

Neutralizing
education and shielding it from conflict must become an urgent priority and
should be placed at the forefront of the agenda of any international or
regional actors seeking to provide humanitarian support to Sudan. Lessons
learned from some international experiences even suggest that cooperation in
humanitarian and educational issues can serve as an entry point for reducing
tensions and creating conditions conducive to ending wars.

As for
Sudan’s civilian and political forces, the time has come for them to assume
their historical responsibility. They must move beyond their internal disputes
and their constant preoccupation with broad abstractions—charters, declarations
of principles, roadmaps, and political processes—and place the issue of
education at the very top of their priorities as a concrete matter affecting
every Sudanese household.

Would we
be naïve dreamers if we called for consultative contacts and meetings among the
competing civilian and political forces, devoted solely to discussing the issue
of education and how to organize a unified Sudanese Secondary School
Certificate Examination across the entire country?

For my
part, I offer the following proposals:

·   As suggested by educational experts, pressures
should be exerted for postponing the examination scheduled for April 13, in
order to allow time for negotiations on holding a unified exam for all of
Sudan.

·   Adopt the proposal of the Sudanese Teachers’
Committee to form a national committee of Sudanese education experts to
supervise a unified examination throughout the country, in coordination with
the Federal Ministry of Education and the educational administrations in areas
under RSF control.

·   Invite specialized international
organizations, such as UNESCO and UNICEF, to provide technical and logistical
supervision—opening safe corridors for students, delivering examination papers,
and securing examination centers in a manner that ensures neutrality, prevents
leaks, and guarantees everyone’s safety.

·   Ensure that education is placed at the top of
the agenda of any international conference supporting Sudan, such as the
upcoming Berlin conference.

If Sudan’s
civilian and political forces adopt this cause, it could achieve more than one
objective. On the one hand, it could help save the future of hundreds of
thousands of students; on the other, it might serve as a point of political
convergence among these forces themselves, helping them overcome the
fragmentation from which they currently suffer. It could reconnect them with
the daily concerns of ordinary people, instead of remaining absorbed in narrow
political interests.

Engaging
with an issue that directly affects people’s lives can reconnect political
activity with its social foundations and redefine politics as a means of
serving society rather than merely a struggle for power. After all, the essence
of politics is not competition for power chairs, but responding to people’s
aspirations and building both the present and the future.

Today, the
future of an entire generation of Sudanese stands at stake. If urgent efforts
are not made to rescue the Sudanese Secondary School Certificate examinations
from the grip of war, the loss will not be educational alone—it will be
national.

Oil and
gold are indeed the wealth and vital resources for development, but the minds
of Sudanese people are the true wealth. If that wealth is lost, Sudan itself
will be lost.



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