In the midst of a decades-long war several thousand children brave the threat of air raids to attend primary school in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The Sudanese government in Khartoum has been withholding education services from the population, but the Catholic Diocese of El Obeid funds the schools in the area. They plan to open a new secondary school next year, and recently opened a small teacher-training college.
The war is a conflict between black African, Christian rebels and an Arab, Islamic regime in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. In addition to withholding basic services, the Sudanese government continues to bar humanitarian aid organizations from the mountains.
As the fighting continues, however, the local people have revived the efforts to restore education. Bishop Massem Max Gassis, the head of the diocese, stated that the new teacher-training college is “the future nucleus of education in the Nuba Mountains.” His hope is that the college will provide the Nuba people a measure of self-sufficiency and serve as an impetus for the continuation and spread of schools in the region.
A Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, with South Sudan seceding in 2011, leaving the rebel party to continue the war in the Nuba mountains. When fighting resumed in mid-2011, close to 100 primary schools, and the only two secondary schools, shut down. Across five rebel-controlled counties, there are approximately 36,300 students in 141 primary schools. However, the population is estimated to be as high as one million.
The most qualified teachers were expatriates from Kenya and Uganda, and fled when the fighting resumed. The children also fled the schools to remain in the protected rocky hills of their homes. Approximately 20,000 students stopped attending schools.
As the fighting enters its third year, the local people hope to retain a level of normalcy in their lives, and education provides it. Patrick Alalo, the principal of a primary school in Kauda, stated, “Education is so important- without it we are useless.”
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