Workshop on higher education in Sudan

The war has left Sudan’s higher education sector in a shambles. How can the sector recover? And what role can universities, staff and students play in rebuilding Sudan? These are among the questions that were on the agenda at a recent dialogue workshop.

The war that broke out in April 2023 has had a devastating effect on higher education in Sudan. Not only have many staff and students been forced to flee the country, but several university campuses have also been looted and flattened to the ground.  

In early December, Sudan scholars and students were gathered to address the challenges facing higher education in Sudan and to discuss recovery processes and which role the sector can play going forward. The dialogue workshop was organised by the University of Khartoum and hosted by the American University of Cairo.

The panels covered six different topics, ranging from the role of regional universities in Sudan to brain drain.

 The state of higher education in Sudan
Even before the war and prior to the 2019 revolution, higher education in Sudan faced significant challenges, including inadequate infrastructure of most regional universities, uneven geographical distribution of institutions, outdated syllabi, and low salaries for staff and employees. The concentration of universities and colleges in Khartoum State proved disastrous when the war broke out, as 70% of these institutions were completely destroyed and rendered irreparable. 

-We find ourselves in a dramatic situation. It will take years to rebuild the higher education sector even to the state it was in before the war, said Intisar Saghayroun, former Minister of Higher Education, who moderated the panel on the state of higher education in Sudan.

Despite the dire situation, the participants managed to look forward and to point to concrete measures that will make it possible to build an even stronger higher education sector in the future, a sector that matches high quality educational institutions in the rest of the world. The University of Khartoum was once one of the most highly recognized universities in Africa, and with a focus on the right priorities, like reconstruction of urban and rural areas on an equal basis, and on making the most out of the human resources that are at hand, workshop participants aim to gain reach these high standards. In the meantime, suggestions on how to assist students in finalizing their education, possibly by strengthening connections between universities in Sudan and other African countries, will be of great importance.

Pathways for recovery, peacebuilding, and reconstruction
Serving and assisting the communities is one of the main pillars in Sudanese universities’ mission. Planning ahead for and playing a role in the recovery process after war will therefore be a key task in the years to come.

The panel discussing pathways for recovery, peacebuilding and reconstruction urged the universities to steer towards more multi-disciplinarity and including peacebuilding in all educational programmes in order to succeed in contributing to building sustainable peace.

In addition to a general pledge to serve the community, the majority of Sudanese universities have peace centres dedicated to research and work within the field of peacebuilding and reconciliation. Abdelmageed Yahya, associate professor at Open University Sudan and SNAC team member, envisions the universities’ peace centres playing a key role in providing technical support, raising awareness and skills at the grassroot level, providing policy advice and information to all stakeholders.

He talked at length about the importance of the soft component of peacebuilding, and how considering the societal fabric is key to building sustainable peace.

 -It is so easy to focus on the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, of all things physical. But what we are facing is the social destruction of Sudan. Our role as academic institutions is to pay special attention to the social dimension. Far too often the societal fabric is left out of the equation when the negotiating parties sit down at the table, said Yahya.

Possibilities and challenges of digital learning
With war effectively closing down even universities that have not been destroyed, access to higher education is one of the main challenges. But digital learning provides possibilities that staff members and students started looking into already during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts were hampered by poor internet access and high costs though, a problem that is even bigger now. For the most part, staff and students still located in Sudan will not have access to the digital learning platforms. Still, at the moment, digital learning may be the only feasible option.

Mohammed Abdalla Khalil talked about his experiences teaching students during war time when you cannot meet physically, and where many students struggle to find somewhere safe to study over time. He suggested several concrete measures for overcoming the current challenges. One is to establish safe learning zones in the areas most affected by war, in close collaboration with local authorities, NGOs, international organisations, and local communities to establish secure locations for digital learning. These safe zones should have a stable internet connection and for example solar powered equipment that the students can use. Khalil also proposed engaging local tech companies and international donors in supporting e-learning infrastructure and resource development, as well as forming a kind of partnership with MNOs to provide cheap/free channels dedicated for online education.

The discussion following the panel discussion also focused on for example cooperation with mobile providers and the importance on keeping costs down. A different aspect of teaching during war deals with mental trauma and coping strategies.

-The war has demonstrated how differently students are affected, and as a teacher it is your responsibility to be willing to adjust and adapt to the students’ needs. Some may have been without internet access for weeks. It is not fair to not take this into account, said Khalil.

Brain drain
The war has displaced university staff all over Sudan in huge numbers. Estimates show that 60-80 % of staff members at different universities in Khartoum have left the country. Many may never return. Professor Amira Ahmed, assistant professor and associate researcher at the American University in Cairo, presented startling numbers demonstrating a brain drain that has been ongoing for some time, but dramatically exacerbated by the war.

-At least one out of three Sudanese graduates and PhD students migrate to other countries for work, she said.

This brain drain severely hampers the chances of rebuilding the higher educational sector in Sudan.

The presentations on brain drain led to a wide-ranging discussion about what it will take to make Sudanese scholars and students return after the war, with many fearing that an end to the war is not sufficient to convince people to come back. Several participants also mentioned the importance of Sudanese scholars who have migrated continuing to contribute to for example teaching students in Sudan via digital platforms.

-We cannot simply focus on the challenges. If the reality is that a significant share of Sudanese scholars is abroad, we also have to adapt to the situation. There are ways of participating and enriching Sudanese higher education institutions also from abroad, was one of the lessons.

The role of regional universities in Sudan
In 1994, as part of a federal system of governance, regional universities were established all over Sudan. Staff at these universities do not simply teach and do research, they also contribute to the development of the local communities, for example by doing research on questions that are of specific importance to the community in which they are situated.

The war has taken a severe toll on the regional universities, some of which have been destroyed or forced to close. But despite the dire situation, the universities have managed to show remarkable resilience. Universities that are still functioning are now hosting staff and students from the hardest hit areas. They are also offering administrative support.

Hussein Sulieman, SNAC team member and professor at the University of Gedarif, was among the scholars who shared his experiences. To cope with the new and extremely challenging situation, staff at the University of Gedarif are now encouraged not to come to the office very day to reduce costs, to encourage digital learning, to cooperate with international NGOs and to adopt flexible academic regulations, like holding joint first and second semester online exams.

He also shed light on the tough financial situation university staff now find themselves in, with many taking on consultancies and looking for casual jobs to make ends meet.

Panelist Samia al-Nagar emphasized the role regional universities can and should take on in building peace.

-The peace centers at the regional universities have been engaged during this war, raising the students’ awareness of peace with support from international actors. However, the focus of training is peaceful coexistence. Universities need to reconsider their role; to be changing and transformative agents, and to promote a culture of peace as an inclusive process. We need a peace education that can give us a new knowledge with unity content and values related to peace, self-reflection, including a critical attitude about oneself and others, and the communities around us, and new experiences testing the transformation of our views and practices and contributing to building and realising freedom and justice, said al-Nagar.  

Students’ participation in recovery and healing
Al-Nagar pointed to the students as key players in the years to come. At different moments in time, they have played a decisive role in developments in Sudan. They played a leading role in the revolution that toppled former president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, but they were not invited to participate in the discussion about the country’s future during the transitional period. Now they are among the groups that are most dramatically impacted by the war. Politics aside, they are now faced with immense practical challenges. The majority of students cannot even get access to their exam papers and graduation certificates.

-We find ourselves in a grey area where we are no longer students but cannot prove that we have a university degree. When I apply for jobs, I want to do my best to show that I am qualified. I have written statements stating that we have lost all documentation because of the war, but apart from that, we simply have to try to convince employers or universities in other countries that we have graduated and with good grades. For now, every door I open is closed to me, said Duaa Abuswar, graduate student from the University of Khartoum.

Abuswar and Aya Khatir, who is now in her finishing year of dental studies, urged the universities to get in place digital platforms where students can find information about whom to contact with questions. If the students are to continue playing the leading role that we have seen for the past decades, they need more certainty about their future.

Keeping research and the scholarly debates alive
Sudan has been a key country in Norwegian development policies for decades. During the negotiations the led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, Norway was part of what came to be known as the troika – Norway, the US, and the UK. This troika played a crucial role in initiating and successfully concluding the peace talks.

Sudan is still important for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the SNAC project is for example funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Khartoum (at the moment located in Nairobi).

Counsellor and Head of Development Cooperation Jeanette da Silva participated in the two-day workshop. She emphasizes the daunting task Sudanese scholars and students have ahead of them not only in rebuilding the higher education sector but also contributing to rebuilding the country once peace has been secured. Retaining their competencies and experiences is one of the key challenges going ahead.

-These academics, many of whom we have heard during this workshop, are a crucial resource for Sudan. Sudanese scholars are also instrumental in documenting and providing analysis on the unfolding situation. Here, projects like SNAC come into play. This collaboration gives both displaced researchers and students as well as partners who remain in Sudan a chance to continue academic discussions and doing research. And precisely this, keeping the wheels turning, is key to enhance recovery prospects of higher education in Sudan, she said.