International Engagement to Address the Sudanese Secondary School Certificate Exam Crisis

Moatinoon
The National Initiative to Save the Future of Sudanese Secondary School Students has called on the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, and the European Union Mission to Sudan to play an active role in supporting ongoing efforts to address the crisis surrounding the Sudanese secondary school certificate examinations.

The initiative held a series of high-level diplomatic meetings in Cairo, Egypt, over the past week. These included a meeting with the UN envoy, as well as discussions with the EU mission, as part of its regional and international efforts to resolve the examination crisis.

The initiative was represented in these meetings by Dr. Sadiq Ambadda, Ms. Al-Nuqayya Al-Waseela, Mr. Sami Al-Baqir, and Mr. Abdelmoneim Al-Jak. The delegation reviewed the situation of approximately 280,000 students at risk of being unable to sit for their exams due to the ongoing war, now approaching its third year. The delegation noted that more than 65% of these students are girls.

The delegation explained that the initiative has conducted direct communications with authorities in Khartoum and Nyala, as well as with the civilian administration in areas controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army led by Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nur. It emphasized that these contacts have yielded relatively positive responses that could serve as a foundation for reaching a national consensus on the examination issue, away from political polarization.

The meetings discussed practical proposals for holding unified nationwide examinations based on consistent content and technical standards, while allowing flexibility in administrative and organizational arrangements to accommodate varying field conditions. The delegation stressed that examinations must be treated as a fundamental human right that should not be politicized or obstructed.

The initiative’s delegation requested that the UN envoy and the European Union mission provide technical and logistical support, and work with various Sudanese stakeholders through international and regional mechanisms to help depoliticize the education file and ensure that students can sit for their exams in a fair and safe manner.

These efforts come amid growing concerns over the potential loss of another academic year for hundreds of thousands of students, alongside increasing calls for urgent international action to prioritize education within the humanitarian response in Sudan.