Three Quarters of School-Age Children in Sudan Out of School, Charity Warns

More than three quarters of school-age children in Sudan are currently out of school, making it one of the world’s most severe education crises, according to the UK-based charity Save the Children.

A new study by the organisation found that 13 million of Sudan’s 17 million school-age children are not attending classes.

Impact of the Ongoing Conflict

• All 13 million children have been out of school since at least April 2023, meaning they have lost over two academic years to violence.
• This includes approximately 7 million children who are enrolled but unable to access education due to ongoing conflict or displacement, and 6 million who are not enrolled at all, risking the permanent loss of their right to education.

Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal war since April 2023, between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and destroyed critical infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.

“If the conflict continues, millions of these children will not be able to go back to school, leaving them exposed to immediate and long-term dangers, including displacement, recruitment into armed groups and sexual violence,” said Mohamed Abdiladif, Save the Children’s country director in Sudan.

Wider Humanitarian Concerns

• The study follows a UN fact-finding mission which reported that girls as young as 12 are being forced into marriage, sometimes under threat of death to their families.
• Even before the current conflict, nearly seven million Sudanese children were already out of school due to poverty and instability.

Currently, just under half of Sudan’s schools have reopened, allowing roughly 4 million children to resume their education. Relative calm has returned to some areas of central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, after the army regained control earlier this year.

Return of Displaced Populations

• Around 2 million people have returned home since November last year, according to the UN’s migration agency.
• Nearly half of these returnees have resettled in Al-Jazira state, with over 600,000 returning to Khartoum.

Sudan is now facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with famine declared in several refugee camps in Darfur.

The ongoing conflict, compounded by pre-existing poverty and instability, has left Sudan’s education system and broader humanitarian situation in dire straits, according to Save the Children and UN agencies.