Back to School in Sudan: Hope in a Backpack
With the right tools and support from UNICEF, children in Sudan's Blue Nile State are back in school and back on track.
Education is a lifeline for children growing up in conflict zones
There's excitement in the air at Arabee Aradawiya girls’ school in Damazine, Blue Nile State.
More children have recently joined the school thanks to UNICEF-supported back-to-learning campaigns across the state. Enrollment has now reached 500 pupils at Arabee Aradiwiya, including 120 displaced and refugee children.
Across Sudan, the education of over 17 million of children has been severely disrupted by the ongoing war. While many families remain displaced, UNICEF and its partners are rallying parents and caregivers to enroll their children so they can get back into learning.
Schools not only continue supporting education for millions of children in Sudan, they also serve as safe spaces during the ongoing conflict.
“The campaign is very important because it allows children to continue learning after more than two years away. That’s a huge learning loss,” Abdalla Mahamoud Dagot, UNICEF Education Officer.
Related: A Perfect Storm for Sudan's Children
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At Arabee Aradawiya, girls run, play, share jokes and snacks, and whisper to one another before the bell rings. Classrooms are full — four children per bench, two teachers per lesson.
Today is special: the children receive learning materials — schoolbags, pencils, notebooks, erasers, colored pencils, rulers and math sets. Many left everything behind when they had to flee the conflict, and their families cannot afford even basic supplies.
“A child without a pencil is a future without possibilities,” Abdalla Mahamoud Dagot says.
Learn more about UNICEF's support for children in Sudan
Across the compound, girls beam with excitement, hugging their new backpacks — filled with the tools they need to restart their learning journey and chase their dreams.
Ten-year-old Anfal is all smiles. “Not being able to go to school for a long time really bothered me,” she says.
“Education is very important to us. We must go to school even during the war so we can learn and not lose out for years.”
Walaa, a third-grade pupil, missed school deeply.
“What I love most are the colors and the notebooks,” she says.
Ten-year-old Aden missed her teachers. Clutching her new geometry set, she looks forward to perfecting her favorite subject, mathematics.
“There’s no time to stop education,” she says. “Education will help us rebuild our country.”
Tawasol, displaced from Khartoum, loves art and drawing. With a packet of colored pencils, she is beginning to find joy again — and new friendships in her new school.
Renad used a plastic bag to carry her books and pen. Now, with her new backpack, her notebooks are safe and organized. For her, returning to school means more time for learning and precious walks from home to school with friends every morning.
Empowering teachers, supporting quality learning
While more schools are reopening in Sudan, around 40 percent of schools still lack essential teaching materials. As part of the campaign, schools will also receive teacher instructional kits — rulers, compasses, chalk, clocks and notebooks — to enhance lesson delivery and improve learning for displaced and vulnerable children.
At Arabee Aradawiya girls’ school, displaced children, refugees and children from host communities now learn side by side, fostering social cohesion and healing. With the right tools, they’ve been given the chance to dream again, their future aspirations now in sight as they remain in the small classrooms.
Education for all: inclusion through learning
Headmistress Noor Abdalrahman commended UNICEF for the timely support while highlighting the enormous needs. This girls’ school is just one of hundreds of primary schools across the state being reached through enrollment campaigns and learning supplies under the European Union-supported Integration and Mainstreaming of Refugee Children into the Sudanese Education System (IRCSES) initiative.
Guided by the principle of leaving no child behind, the initiative will provide safe, inclusive and quality education to more than 170,100 children across all 418 schools in Blue Nile alone — including displaced, refugees and host communities’ children. More children in the River Nile and Kassala states will benefit from the same program.
Learn more about how UNICEF education initiatives changes lives.
This story first appeared on UNICEF.org
HOW TO HELP
There are many ways to make a difference
War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.
Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.
