Save the Children: Sudan records longest school closure in history due to war

Save the Children International has highlighted an unprecedented education crisis in Sudan, where more than eight million children have been deprived of schooling during what they describe as the world’s longest school closure, lasting 484 days, amidst a war that has devastated health and educational infrastructure. Darfur and West Kordofan are among the hardest hit, with the majority of schools disrupted.

The organisation has issued a warning that the war that has raged in Sudan for nearly three years has deprived more than eight million children of education, in what it described as the longest period of school closures in the world.

Eight million children out of school

A statement from Save the Children said that “more than eight million children – nearly half of all school-aged children – have spent 484 days without entering a classroom.”

The organisation stated that this period constitutes “the longest period of school closures in the world,” exceedingly even the number of closure days during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sudan has been living under the weight of a three-year-long war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, and destroyed a large part of the health and education infrastructure.

According to Save the Children, Sudan is currently experiencing “one of the worst education crises in the world, with many schools closed while others have been damaged in the conflict or are being used as shelters.”

Darfur is the most affected

The Darfur region, most of which is under the control of the Rapid Support Forces, is the most affected, with only three per cent of more than 1,100 schools operating in North Darfur state.

Last October, the Rapid Support Forces seized control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, thus tightening their grip on the entire region.

Since then, the fighting has spread to the neighbouring Kordofan region, which is also witnessing a gradual expansion of the Rapid Support Forces’ influence.

Only 15% of schools are operational in West Kordofan.

In West Kordofan state, only 15 per cent of schools are currently operational.

The statement indicated that large numbers of teachers had left their jobs due to the non-payment of salaries.

According to the organisation’s president, Inger Ashing, “Failure to invest in education risks leaving an entire generation captive to a future governed by conflict, not opportunity.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk this week condemned the increasing frequency of attacks on “essential civilian infrastructure,” including hospitals, markets, and schools, expressing concern about the “militarisation of society” and the recruitment of children.

Child soldiers

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the “Pen Instead of Gun – Children Not Soldiers” campaign revealed a dangerous escalation in the rate of child recruitment in Sudan, confirming that the phenomenon is no longer confined to traditional conflict zones, but has become widespread throughout the country, taking advantage of poverty, displacement and the collapse of the education system.

A separate report by Radio Dabanga earlier today points out how Sudanese refugee children are haunted by traumas of war.