In September last year, during the launch of the 2025–2026 academic year, Director of Educational Affairs for Khartoum Locality Omar Al-Haj Abu Huraira, announced the reopening of all schools across the locality’s various educational stages, signaling the resumption of formal schooling.
He affirmed that textbooks were available at a rate of 100 per cent and that approximately 100,000 new classroom seats had been procured for distribution to schools, according to statements carried by the Sudan News Agency (SUNA).
At the time, the Teachers’ Committee in Khartoum Locality sharply criticized Abu Huraira’s claims, stating in a communiqué reviewed by Atar that 80 per cent of the locality’s population was either internally displaced or living as refugees.
Education, after all, was among the most critical services that compelled displaced families across Sudan, and refugees abroad, to leave Khartoum during the nearly two-year conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Seeking clarity, Atar attempted to contact Abu Huraira but he declined to answer questions, citing instructions from the state ministry prohibiting release of information regarding educational process. He referred inquiries to either the state or federal ministry, though access to both proved unsuccessful.
In a brief statement, he asserted that “the educational situation in Khartoum Locality is witnessing significant momentum toward stability after a long interruption due to the war.”
In 2026, Sovereignty Council member and head of the Supreme Committee for Preparing the Environment for Return to Khartoum State, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Jaber, declared the year “the Year of Education” in Khartoum State.
A field tour conducted by the Atar team across the outskirts of Khartoum Locality indicates tangible efforts to revive classroom life, efforts that diminish progressively the deeper one moves into the urban core.
Most public schools in the locality have technically resumed operations. In Jabra neighbourhood alone, at least seven public schools—secondary, intermediate, and primary—have reopened. Yet educational activity nearly disappears in areas where residents’ return remains limited, such as Khartoum 2, Al-Manshiya, and Al-Taif, neighbourhoods still sparsely populated and, in some cases, sustained by communal kitchens.
School consolidation
Secondary students were consolidated into 10 boys’ schools and 15 girls’ schools out of 54 public secondary schools, because attendance is low.
Teachers’ Committee, Khartoum Locality
The Teachers’ Committee revealed to Atar that the locality’s education administration consolidated secondary-level students into 10 schools for boys and 15 for girls, out of a total of 54 public secondary schools. The move, officials explained, was necessitated by low student attendance within the locality.
Images obtained by Atar illustrate the consolidation of schools in Khartoum State
Source: Teachers’ Committee
Despite official rhetoric suggesting that the academic process is proceeding smoothly, a well-informed source within the Education Department’s Statistics Office disclosed that, as of the end of January, only 161 schools, out of 450 public and private institutions, were operating at what he described as an acceptable level. The remainder are either closed due to insufficient student numbers or have suffered destruction or looting.
Regarding private schools, the source noted that they are subject to stringent inspections to verify technical readiness. Nonetheless, he estimated that roughly 60 per cent are prepared to operate, largely because their proprietors undertook reconstruction independently.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added that some schools had been used as military barracks or defensive positions during the conflict, resulting in the destruction of furniture and infrastructure.
“Most schools in the locality lost their computer laboratories, electrical equipment, and administrative offices. This is the primary obstacle to full resumption,” he said.
The administration has begun compiling data on teachers affiliated with the locality who were displaced to other states or left the country, in preparation for decisions mandating their return to duty. A field survey conducted by the department found that, even in the best-performing schools, the teaching workforce ranges between 30 and 40 per cent of pre-war capacity.
The ministry, he added, has supplied only 30 per cent of required textbooks. Parents are covering the shortfall at their own expense. Notably, first-year secondary textbooks remain unavailable altogether.
Some schools continue to serve as temporary shelters for residents whose homes were destroyed. Authorities are reportedly seeking alternative accommodations to vacate these facilities and restore educational functions.
Of the locality’s 54 academic secondary schools and six technical and religious institutions, only 25 are currently operating.
In the consolidated boys’ schools, 18,322 students are enrolled under the supervision of 250 teachers. Girls’ schools host approximately 20,000 students taught by 270 teachers.
Previously, the Teachers’ Committee reported severe staffing shortages, noting that each school requires a minimum of 15 teachers. According to figures the committee obtained, boys’ schools average eight teachers per institution, a deficit exceeding 49 per cent, while girls’ schools average seven teachers each, reflecting a shortfall of more than 50 per cent.
According to the locality’s Education Media Office, 240 schools, both public and private, are presently undergoing technical assessment. Thirty-six schools have been completely destroyed. A recent evaluation report categorized remaining institutions into three tiers: severe, moderate, and minor damage, to prioritize urgent maintenance.
Meanwhile, primary school certificate examinations for the 2026 academic year are currently underway in Khartoum Locality, having commenced on the seventh of this month and scheduled to continue through mid-month. The Education Administration reported that exams are proceeding “under tightly coordinated and organized arrangements among all relevant authorities.”
Teachers’ perspectives
Attendance does not exceed three per cent in central neighbourhoods like Khartoum 2 and 3.
Abdel Hamid Al Jak Ali, educational supervisor, Khartoum Locality
A principal of a central Khartoum school, currently displaced to Northern State and speaking on condition of anonymity, told Atar that the resumption of education should follow, not precede, the resolution of the conditions that caused its suspension. The prevailing economic, social, and public health crises in Khartoum, he argued, hinder residents’ return to their homes. Basic necessities remain scarce; many families have yet to return due to weak services and ongoing security instability— factors directly affecting student attendance.
“Most residents of the locality are absent, including teachers and pupils, displaced or abroad. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to speak of a stable educational system,” he said. The spread of disease, deteriorating services, and widespread looting of homes and property further explain his hesitation to return.
For his part, Abdel Hamid Al-Jak Ali, an educational supervisor in Khartoum Locality, observed that teacher and student attendance rates are markedly lower in central and eastern districts compared to the south.
“Attendance rates are relatively good in the outskirts,” he said, “But they decline the deeper one moves into the locality.”
In neighbourhoods such as Khartoum 2 and 3, Al-Sahafat, and Al-Barari, attendance does not exceed an estimated 3 per cent, whereas peripheral areas report rates above 50 per cent.
He added that many teachers have taken unpaid leave; some are outside Sudan, others employed in private schools, decisions driven largely by inadequate salaries.
At Khartoum Al-Jadida School in Khartoum 3, an institution that sustained severe damage, a teacher described the loss of all classroom furniture, physics and chemistry laboratories, and its historic library. The school has not resumed operations at full capacity across grade levels; instead, it currently functions as a consolidation centre for final-year secondary students registered in Khartoum Locality, ensuring their preparation ahead of examinations.
The school has been nominated as one of the principal venues for the secondary school certificate examinations scheduled for April 13, 2026, following ongoing cleaning and maintenance operations. It is included in the State of Khartoum’s urgent 2026 reconstruction plan. Significant efforts are also underway by the Khartoum Al-Jadida Alumni Association to contribute to restoring the buildings and safeguarding the school’s institutional legacy.
However, the school continues to suffer from collapsed water and sewage networks, conditions that render it a fertile ground for epidemics.
Private schools
A field survey conducted by Atar indicates that several private schools are currently operating in the al-Kalakla districts, including Al-Abrar School, Al-Zahraa School, Al-Manara School, and branches of Al-Kuda Schools.
Tuition fees remain the principal burden facing parents in Khartoum. Annual fees in private schools range between 650,000 and 1 million Sudanese pounds per pupil at the primary and intermediate levels, and gets to 1.5 million pounds at the secondary level.
Hiba, the deputy head at British Education Schools – al-Kalakla branch, which opened in the al-Kalakla al-Laffa neighbourhood in the former Nile Bank building noted strong demand for private schooling in the area. Kindergarten tuition at British Education Schools stands at 1 million pounds, in addition to a registration fee of 100,000 pounds per child, with the school providing a backpack and uniform.
Before the war, branches of British Education Schools were spread across Khartoum. Now, according to Hiba, operations are limited to al-Kalakla al-Laffa and Yathrib neighbourhoods, with two additional branches expected to open in Arkawit and al-Amarat in the upcoming academic year.
Atar’s monitoring also indicates that at least four active branches of Al-Kuda Schools operate in al-Kalakla alone, alongside another in Arkawit, spanning primary, intermediate, and secondary levels.
The owner of a private school in al-Lamab Bahr Abyad told Atar that in the year the war broke out, his school enrolled 800 students. After the army regained control of Khartoum State, he rebuilt the school at considerable personal expense. Yet enrollment has plummeted.
“We now have only 210 students, and what they pay does not cover 40 per cent of operating costs,” he said. “It is no surprise. Most residents of the neighbourhood have not returned. Those present represent no more than 45 per cent of the original population. Under such conditions, I may be forced to close.”
Additional costs in public schools
A teacher at a public girls’ school in al-Sahafa neighbourhood told Atar that the school collects 20,000 pounds from each guardian upon first-grade registration, in addition to fees for transfer students.
During the academic year, parents are required to pay a “contribution” fee, varying by school and typically comparable to the registration amount, alongside examination fees.
Ismail al-Amin Juma, a parent in al-Azhari neighbourhood in southern Khartoum Locality, described the daily ordeal of transporting his children to school amid ongoing public transit shortages. Their public school lies two kilometres from home; the nearer school has not yet reopened and remains under repair.
“Often, they walk,” he said, either due to lack of transport or inability to afford fares.
The school also imposes administrative fees through its parents’ council, in addition to examination fees he recently paid.
Without a stable source of income, he struggles to meet tuition and textbook costs.
“Before the war, things were better. We worked. Now there are fewer residents, so demand for work has declined. Yet we still want our children to study.”
He proposed waiving school fees and providing stipends to encourage return.
“My neighbours want to come back, but these conditions prevent them. Work has stopped. Markets that once bustled with life are now mere memory.” He admitted to feeling humiliated at having to send his children to a deteriorating school environment simply to safeguard their future. Accumulated waste and fears of epidemics such as cholera and malaria compound parental anxiety. “We fear a single mosquito bite,” he said, “because treatment costs have become impossible.”
The suspension of support
Educational support programmes have now ceased, as donors have shifted funding toward school rehabilitation rather than direct assistance.
Member of the Khartoum State Emergency Rooms
During the war, emergency response rooms in Khartoum supported students by providing notebooks, textbooks, tuition assistance, meals, and recreational activities. Neighbourhoods such as Al-Jereif, Arkawit, and Jabra benefited from these initiatives.
These emergency rooms constitute a broad network of activists and humanitarian workers rooted in Sudan’s flourishing charitable sector over the past decade. They played a visible humanitarian role during and after the clashes in Khartoum.
One member of the Khartoum State Emergency Rooms told Atar that educational support programmes have now ceased.
“The situation has changed,” he said, explaining that donor organizations have shifted their funding priorities to school rehabilitation projects: water provision and environmental sanitation, rather than direct educational assistance. Nevertheless, requests for school rehabilitation continue to outpace available liquidity.
He assessed the current educational situation as relatively improved:
“Perhaps everything appears better compared to the darkest days, when human life itself, not merely educational futures, was under threat.”
A moral compromise
Amira al-Haj, a teacher at Hafsa bint Omar Government Girls PrimarySchool in al-Sahafa, told Atar that students have returned to classrooms in what she described as “reasonable” numbers.
Before the war, classrooms accommodated between 50 and 70 pupils; today, they host around 20. The decline reflects incomplete residential return, as the school draws exclusively from nearby neighbourhoods.
Amira has observed that some parents attempt to skip one or two academic years when enrolling their daughters, hoping to recover time lost to war. Such attempts generally fail because of lack of documentation proving prior completion. Some pupils lack identification papers altogether. Although the Education Office has instructed schools to enroll them, official documents remain required for sitting primary certificate examinations.
Regarding overall academic standards, Amira noted a marked decline. She has also observed behavioural patterns she considers troubling from both pedagogical and ethical perspectives, attributing them to psychological, material, and social pressures.
What troubles her most is what she calls a pervasive sense of indifference among students, an indifference that affects teachers in turn.
Once a teacher sells ice cream to a pupil, she enters into a moral bargain with her duty.
Rihab, teacher formerly in Khartoum, now working in Omdurman
“It becomes difficult to insist,” she said, “when a student does not even bother to cover her notebook or care for it.”
As for teachers’ conditions, Amira, currently a second-grade teacher awaiting promotion, explained that the school operates at 50 per cent staffing capacity. A first-grade teacher’s salary does not exceed 224,000 pounds (approximately $60), without incentives.
Teachers cover their own breakfast costs at school. Some supplement incomes by selling dried okra or homemade sweets from their homes. Most commute daily from al-Kalakla by public transport.
Rihab, who previously taught in both public and private schools in Khartoum and now works in Omdurman, told Atar that the most striking post-war transformation in students is heightened aggression and diminished discipline.
She also revealed that some teachers resort to selling ice cream to students during class to supplement their income.
A fifth-grade teacher in a public school earns only 135,000 pounds (roughly $40 or less), and salaries may be delayed for months.
Reflecting on this practice, Rihab remarked that once a teacher sells ice cream to a pupil, “she enters into a moral bargain with her duty. The student who buys from you expects you to overlook his shortcomings and mistakes.”
