Chad agrees to host Sudanese Cert. exams this year

The Chadian government has agreed to allow approximately 10,000 Sudanese students currently residing in eastern Chad to sit for their secondary school certificate exams on its territory. Chad’s refusal to host the exams last year caused widespread frustration among thousands of displaced students and their families.

In a post on X, Darfur Governor Minni Minawi confirmed that Chad will be holding Sudanese state exams this year, hosting refugee students from Darfur and those attending Sudanese friendship schools in Chad. He praised the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for handling all logistical work related to delivering and administering the exams.

Chadian media reported that President Mahamat Idriss Déby gave his preliminary approval during a meeting with the Sudanese chargé d’affaires in N’Djamena, Ahmed Jamal. Minawi had previously appealed directly to the Chadian president, while Sudan’s Ministry of Education said it was ready to deliver the exams to Chadian authorities as soon as an agreement was reached.

Last year, Chad refused to allow over 6,000 Sudanese refugee students, primarily from Darfur, to sit for the Sudanese certificate exams. 

Darfur students in northern Sudan

The Emergency Committee for Darfur Students announced this week that 453 students from the five Darfur states had arrived in River Nile State to take their exams, adding that housing and living arrangements have been completed.

Male students are scheduled to sit for exams in Atbara, while female students will be hosted in Ed Damer, with safe transportation provided from their arrival points. The committee also noted that a group of students stranded for six days in the Um Bader area have now safely arrived in Ed Debba and are en route to Atbara, without providing further details.

However, significant hurdles remain for students in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Abdullah Mahmoud, an educational supervisor in El Mujlad, West Kordofan, told Radio Dabanga that there are no arrangements for the Sudanese Certificate exams, which were scheduled to begin on June 29.

“The areas under RSF control in the state do not have any examination centres,” Mahmoud stated. He explained that proposals to establish a centre in the Abyei area under UN supervision have received no response.

According to Mahmoud, the only option presented is to send students to the South Sudanese capital, Juba, a solution he described as unfeasible due to prohibitive costs, distance, and time constraints. He warned that students from both the 2023 and 2024 classes may be unable to sit for their exams under the current circumstances.

Low turnout in West Darfur

In El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, journalist Alaa El Din Babiker reported that student turnout for the upcoming exams is weak, despite the availability of review centres. He attributed this to the disappointment from last year when exams were cancelled after the Port Sudan government refused to allocate centres in Darfur —effectively excluding areas under control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — and Chad declined to host them. Around 25 percent of sitting students were reported absent during last year’s examination period.

While the local civil administration has not actively opposed students travelling this year, Babiker expressed concerns about potential flare-ups of conflict and ethnic-based targeting should students attempt to travel to Chad. He concluded by criticising the use of education and exams as “a weapon in the ongoing war.”