Port Sudan protest against school area rezoned as commercial district

Neighbourhood committees in El Gadisiya in Port Sudan organised a vigil on Thursday in protest against the decision of the authorities to change the use of a piece of land where a school would be constructed to commercial use by companies and shops. The decision was taken during the ruling of President Omar Al Bashir, who was deposed in April this year.

An activist reported to Radio Dabanga about a renewed conflict between residents of the neighbourhood and the owners of the commercial land, who obtained it in an auction in 2016.

People in Port Sudan have protested the sale of schools to make place for business investments already in 2014.

In Haya, people protested in front of the locality buildings to demand the dismissal of the Commissioner and other officials and employees affiliated with the former regime.

Shortage of teachers

Schools in Red Sea state suffer from a great shortage of teachers. The chairman of the Parents' Council of Hoshiri, north of Port Sudan, told Radio Dabanga that the school has four classes and more than a hundred pupils, but employs only one teacher.

He said that despite the resumption of classes in mid-September, the students did not study so far. The Parents’ Council filed a number of complaints to the local Ministry of Education, to no avail however.

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