ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Thousands of displaced children are out of school in Golo (Central Darfur State), while those attending schools are studying in overcrowded classrooms, according to the national NGO SCF.

• Aid organisations providing education assistance have supported 50,300 displaced children in Central Darfur, since October 2016.

• Humanitarian organisations have started providing health services in Jebel Marra.

• WVI-Sudan may face setbacks in delivering aid to thousands of people in South Darfur due to funding challenges

FIGURES 2016 HRP

# people in need in Sudan (2016 HNO): 5.8 million

# people in need in Darfur (2016 HNO): 3.3 million

GAM caseload: 2.1 million

South Sudanese refugee arrivals in Sudan - since 15 Dec 2013 (registered by UNHCR) - as of 31 Dec 2016: 297,168

Refugees of other nationalities (registered by UNHCR) - as of 31 Oct 2016: 140,626

FUNDING

568.4 million US$ received in 2016

59% Reported funding (as of 5 February 2017)

Thousands of displaced children in Golo, Central Darfur State need education support Thousands of displaced children are out of school in Golo (Central Darfur State), while those attending school are studying in overcrowded classrooms, which need rehabilitation and other support, according to the national NGO Sanad Charity Foundation (SCF).
Children are dropping out of school mainly due to socio-economic factors as they have to contribute to their families’ income by working in farms or selling food and other goods in local markets, SCF said following visits to Golo and based on reports from people displaced to Golo from Jebel Marra due to conflict in the first half of 2016.
Another issue is that due to conflict and lack of access to schooling, a number of students have not attended school in years. In some cases, there are evening primary school shifts for teenagers and youth—aged between 16 and 21 years—so they can catch up on their education, SCF said. SCF also reports that schools are in need of support in terms of desks, chairs, teaching materials and do not have enough teachers or support staff.
School children are studying in overcrowded classes—in some cases with up to 90 students—and some schools in Golo have to work in two shifts to accommodate the educational needs, according to SCF. In addition, some children have to walk for up to 10km every day to reach their school.
SCF was founded in 2004 and works in the areas of health, education, poverty reduction, disaster relief and peace-building across Sudan.
Golo had been inaccessible for international humanitarian organisation for several years until mid-2016; there have been a number of interagency missions and visits to the area in recent months.
The exact number of new IDPs, including displaced children, in the area is yet to be determined.

State Ministry of Education and UNICEF carry out an education needs assessment

As part of efforts to identify education needs in the area, the State Ministry of Education (SMoE) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) carried out an assessment in Golo last October and estimated that 9,000 IDP children were out of school in Golo. The assessment covered five primary and three secondary schools in Golo town and identified 3,739 students attending those eight schools.
In some schools, classes are held out in the open, according to the October 2016 interagency assessment. The assessment also found out that the total number of permanent teachers in Golo schools is 24 and there are no volunteer teachers as communities are unable to pay incentives.

Response by Education Sector and partners

Since October 2016, the Education Sector and its partners have supported 50,300 IDP children—of whom 49 per cent girls—in Central Darfur, including 3,000 IDP and host community children in Golo, to restore access to quality basic education through provision of essential teaching, learning and recreational materials. UNICEF, in collaboration with the state Ministry of Education (MoE), completed the rehabilitation of 16 classrooms, built three latrines, trained 100 teachers in interactive learning techniques, and trained 70 members of Parent Teachers Association (PTAs)—in Golo town and surrounding villages—on school management.
SCF provided 1,000 IDP schoolchildren in Golo with uniforms and school bags. In addition, SCF is planning to reconstruct and rehabilitate three schools in Golo and provide students with school bags and education supplies in the first half of 2017.

Sudan’s Out-of-School 2015 report

Over 3.1 million of Sudan’s 7.9 million school-aged children (between 5 and 13 years) are out of school, which is the highest rate in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Sudan’s first Out-of-School Children Report, released on 10 September 2015 by the Ministry of Education, with the support of UNICEF and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The report outlined that the majority of out-of-school children are from nomadic communities as well as rural and conflict-affected areas. In Sudan, ongoing violence, a lack of awareness regarding the importance of education, and economic underdevelopment are seriously affecting the education of boys and girls, according to the report findings. The highest percentages of these out-of-school children are in Blue Nile (46.8 per cent), Kassala (45.1 per cent) and West Darfur (45.7 per cent) states. Northern State has the lowest rate of out-of-school children with 7.9 per cent.