Sudan - Teaching Profession

The General Directorate for Training and Education Qualifying in the Sudanese Ministry of Education is responsible for overseeing the qualifying and preparation of educators and teaching personnel for service in the teaching profession. Designing training programs and curricula, and qualifying professionals for the educational training process, are among the directorate's mandates. Teachers and tutors for elementary and intermediate schools, holders of Sudan's Certificate of Higher Education, school headmasters, directors and supervisors, are enrolled for both short-and long-term training courses in university faculties of education throughout Sudan.

By requiring enrollment in such training courses for teachers and tutors who have never completed their professional qualifications, the Ministry of Education hopes to raise the level of instruction in the public education system. Since the New Educational Policy of 1991, and the accompanying new curricula, the need has become clear for refresher courses and sessions in basic subjects including Islamic religion, education and educational methodology, Arabic, English, Applied Arts, mathematics, and social studies. Specific training is offered for teachers working among the displaced populations, but one can only surmise as to the true agenda behind the educational process in "peace" camps to which forcibly displaced refugees have fled to escape "starvation traps," violence, and government-planned deprivation. For many, an education is obtained at the cost of being socialized into the Khartoum-subordinate Islamist culture.

Grants and scholarships are made available to teachers for further professional development in areas such as Islamic studies, education diplomas, math, technical and vocational studies. But education in Sudan is generally a subsistence-level enterprise. The war-induced poverty of Sudan has translated for teachers into unpaid salaries and poor working conditions, leaving teachers to rely on students' families for support and subsidy, and resulting in an exodus of qualified teachers amidst the civil strife and instability.