Time is running out for Sudan students yet to sit their December exams
21 January 2025At least 400,000 internally displaced students in Sudan and 17,000 refugee students in Chad were unable to sit their final (grade 12) exams in December last year and risk repeating another year if they don't do them before the March deadline.
According to the school calendar, Grade 12 exams are usually held and marked before the end of March, after which students who missed them could be forced to repeat a year. Although the education authorities postponed the exams until the end of December 2024, thousands of children, particularly those in conflict areas, were unable to sit them due to security risks.
Leaving no student behind
Ahead of International Day of Education on 24 January, Plan International urges the Sudanese authorities to put the needs of these children first and work to give them a chance at a better future without delay.
While we recognise that several hundred thousand Sudanese students have been able to take these exams inside Sudan, and that large numbers of Sudanese refugee children are also able to continue their education in temporary schools in Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia, etc., we remain concerned about the many more who are unable to access these exams and call on all parties to do all they can to ensure that no student is left behind, especially girls.
“We urge stakeholders on all sides to cooperate and coordinate to ensure that these children don’t miss their exams indefinitely.” said Arjimand Hussain, Plan International’s Regional Crisis Response Manager for Sudan. “Sudan’s children have suffered long enough. We must put their interests first. We owe them that before it’s too late.”
Safe schools declaration
The educational needs of children in Sudan are staggering. UNICEF estimates that more than 17 of the 19 million school-age children in Sudan are not learning, and only 20% of schools have reopened since April 2023.
Plan International calls on all government authorities to endorse, implement and support the Safe Schools Declaration, including by allocating adequate resources for its implementation.
“Sudan’s children have suffered long enough. We must put their interests first. We owe them that before it’s too late.”
Arjimand Hussain
Plan International’s Regional Response Manager (Sudan crisis)
Governments, with the support of international actors, should provide non-discriminatory assistance for all survivors of attacks on education, invest in and ensure that contextual and responsive alternative and distance learning programmes are made available to all students out of school due to armed conflict, including refugee and internally displaced children.
All children should have safe access to schools and the relevant facilities.
Categories: Education, Emergencies, Protection from violence
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