Residents of North Darfur village urges reopening of school closed since war began

Residents of Al-Mudayib village in Sudan’s North Darfur State have appealed to the relevant authorities to reopen the area’s only school, which has been closed since the war began in April 2023.

Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Doudo, chairperson of the school’s education council, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that the school had not reopened since fighting broke out.

Three of its six classrooms need to be rebuilt, while accommodation for teachers also needs to be constructed, he said.

The school had 654 pupils, both boys and girls, before the war, Al-Doudo said. They have now been out of school for more than three years.

Several university graduates from the area have offered to volunteer as teachers if the school reopens, he said.

The school also lacks desks, textbooks and other educational materials, while funds are needed to support volunteer teachers, Al-Doudo said.

Tribo Burma Yousif, a resident of Al-Mudayib, said the closure had severely affected the community and urged authorities, donors and other well-wishers to help restore the school.

He said traditional Quranic schools in the area had also been forced to close or damaged because of the conflict.

Al-Mudayib School, established in 1994, was originally known as Al-Mudayib Mixed Basic School and had eight classrooms. Its capacity was later reduced to six classrooms following Sudan’s education reforms, which introduced a six-year primary cycle followed by three years each of intermediate and secondary education.

The school is in the Mustariha administrative unit of Al-Waha locality in North Darfur state.

Mustariha was the stronghold of tribal leader Musa Hilal, who had declared his support for the Sudanese army. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the area in February, taking control after fighting with forces aligned with Hilal and prompting the displacement of thousands of residents.

The conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF began in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, according to the United Nations and aid agencies. The war has also severely disrupted education, with schools destroyed, damaged or used for other purposes and millions of children deprived of regular schooling.