Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces Start Parallel Exams In Darfur, Kordofan

Parallel secondary-school certificate exams in Sudan began on Sunday in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, with the first exams of their kind held in Darfur since the war broke out in April 2023.

“Khartoum – The Sudanese government rejected the secondary school certificate examinations conducted by the Rapid Support Forces in areas under their control in Darfur and described them as a deception for students and their families, saying they lack legal and institutional legitimacy and will not receive any academic or legal recognition from higher education institutions and the competent authorities”

Al-Jazeera Net

RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo (Hemeti) rang the bell to start the exams at Unit Girls' Secondary School in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and described the exams as 'a big step toward stabilizing the educational process, leading to stability in all aspects of life.'

Al-Jazeera Net

The exams began in 83 centers across Darfur, West and North Kordofan, and the article says about 280,000 male and female students in Darfur and Kordofan and other areas under RSF control have been deprived of exams for the past three years due to the war.

The internationally recognized government of Sudan held the Sudanese secondary certificate exams in April last year with more than 564,000 male and female students participating, while the Teachers’ Committee warned that organizing independent exams in RSF-controlled areas could represent 'a dangerous gateway to dividing the country administratively and politically.'

In El-Obeid, North Kordofan State, the BBC described how Makarem and Ikram, two 18-year-old twins, saw their Abu Sitta Girls School come under attack in August 2024, with bombardments beginning while Makarem was in an English literature class and Ikram was in science.

The BBC reported that Makarem and Ikram’s English teachers and thirteen of their classmates were killed, and dozens more were injured during the bombing, and it said regional authorities accuse the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of firing the shells.

BBC

The BBC said the RSF has never commented on the incident and did not respond to BBC requests for comment, and it added that it is not known whether the bombardment of the school was intentional.

After Abu Sitta School was closed for three months to renovate it, the BBC reported that principal Iman Ahmed said several students received psychological support upon returning to school, and that beds and nurses were made available at the school to allow injured students to take their exams under proper conditions.

The Al-Jazeera Net article said the Sudanese government rejected the secondary school certificate examinations conducted by the Rapid Support Forces in areas under their control in Darfur and described them as a deception for students and their families.

“The war in Sudan has entered its fourth year amid famine, with poverty rising to 70% and more than 11 million people displaced, as Berlin hosts an international conference to mobilize humanitarian support and press for a political settlement, despite faint hopes for a ceasefire”

France 24

It reported that the government said the exams lack legal and institutional legitimacy and will not receive any academic or legal recognition from higher education institutions and the competent authorities, while the RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hamdati) rang the bell to inaugurate the first secondary certificate examinations from Nyala Girls' High School in Nyala.

Al-Jazeera Net quoted an RSF civil authority official in South Darfur, Hafiz Ahmed Omar, saying those registered for the exams in Darfur states totaled 9,551 students in the academic track, and it also said the government official warned that RSF sites are devoid of citizens who fled from them.

The article said the South Darfur State government warned Khartoum against holding the secondary certificate exams outside the official framework approved by the federal Ministry of Education, and it stressed that creating parallel educational tracks threatens the unity of the educational system and undermines trust in academic certificates.