Tratto da: General Secretariat Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, n. 5/1991, Sept. - Oct. 1991, pp. 1-4

This report presents how the New Sudanese Education Policy, declared on May 24th 1991, has benn presented in the three Sudanese newspapers (Al-Qwat Al - Musallaha (Q.M.), Al Inqad Al Watani (I.W.) and Al Sudan Al Hadith (S.H.), since the first of September 1999 till October 20.

We have given a special attention to both, the newspapers' commentaries and declarations or speeches of Government members, on different occasions during this period.

During this time some events took place in connection with this educational problem: The Students' Demonstration in Juba Town, the inspection that the Government authorities have started on Churc school for displaced children in Khartoum and, the indications or "rumors" that these schools are to be taken over by Government.
 

1. Accusation against Private schools:

"...the aim of private schools is to earn money quickly. They (the Private Schools) have forgotten their educational role. They hold meetings without inviting their teachers and instead of discussing their teachers' problems, school needs of blackboard, fans, books, etc, they decided to increase the students fees ... (Q.M. 2-9-91 page 3).

The Minister of Education, after he visited some private schools on 11-9-1991, affirmed: "the lack of educational materials, books and teachers and the non-observation of the directives of the Ministry of Education regarding the acceptance of students who did not pass the official examination..." and also, he said, "many teachers do not receive both the salary during holidays and the opportunity of their on-going formation...". The news concludes with the names of schools visited by the Minister of Education, among them, Sisters' Schools and Comboni Schools (I.W. 12-9-91 page 1), without specifying the guilty ones.

On 4-10-91 page 4 of "Qwat Al Musallaha" presents the names of some schools with some of the problems above mentioned, some statistics about private schools and announces the new rules of the private schools. It is worth mentioning the following:..." The Authority of Education in the States can order the cessation of the school permission to any non Governmental school if:
1 - the school fails to remove their incapacity or defect.
2 - the teaching in private schools is against the General administration.
3 - the private school uses the building and its possessioins for non educational aims
4 - the organization of the relation between the school and the teachers is done without any written contract. The school must mantain the archives and, if it is possible , to employ both teachers with other employment and without any employment.
 

2. Accusation against the Higher Education National Association

There are some accusations against the Higher Education National Association regarding the non observance of Ministry of Education directive, as follows: ..."The Higher Education National Association behaves as it has the power to make decrees... it pays no attention to the Ministry of Education's decrees ...and this National Association ordered its schools to accept students who failed the examinations without having the official document from the Ministry of Education which granted it to adopt the resolution.." (S.H. 22-9-91 page 5). This accusation was written also in the same newspaper (on 7-10-1991 page 4) during an interview with the Minister of Education.
 

3. Accusation against the Church:

In the article "Schools of "Al - Dawa" Organization", published by Kamal Hamid in Al Sudan Al Hadith on 25-9-1991, page 3, we read: "One of the best successful projects of "Al Dawa Islamia" is the project, that was born as a giant, to stop, as a thorn in the throat, the schools of Christianization which spread over the capital of Khartoum to infuse the poison...".

On the occasion of the opening of a Libyan Culture Centre in Wad Medani its director, Mr. Haidar Al Zuruq Al Ja'arany, said:..."Blessed be God because we have a conscious, intelligent youth and firm in its Islamic religion and Arab character who are not impressed by the influencing factors and temptations and they are aware of the conspiracy of the Imperialism and Christianity which attempt to destroy the Arabic people" (Q.M. 16-10-91 page 6).

On 10-10-91 Al Qwat Al Musallaha, on page 3, presented an article of six columns under the headline "The Christianity grins". The author, Al Sirr Hassan Jaksim, tries to analyse the wars in Sudan since its indipendence. Tha accusation against the Church emerges clearly as he writes: ..."We have seen those Churches, which exploited its temples and altars for the prayers and repentance but in the darkness the Chruches used them for brainwashing and to sow the seeds of hidden hatreds".

"The missionaries, sisters and priests who lived in those jungles, worked hard work to sow the spirit of hatred, and the aversion among the natives of this single land, Sudan. Jesus ... has never preached hatred, but he was a person full of humanity, who loved peace... he was merciful even with the sinners ... We have heard hymns, David's psalms, mingled with clergymen suggestions and desires, when they collected children in classrooms to diffuse this nonsense and fallacious lies and ideas of hatred".

"Time passed, the missionary organizations left and they were followed by Church organizations with a new shape and Satanic strategy who pretend to dry the tears of the poor and the prodigals by sending relief for displaced people whereas the country is under agony, the tragedy of the war...".
"Till the Christian impose the peace which is mingled with bloodshed, our Arabic Nations will be still puzzled with our heads under the sand. They will be surprised by a sudden Christian proud, bloody war as the recent one (reference to Gulf war). It is going to be too late for sorrow, misfortune as one of Arab poets said: "I am Muslim and the Islam never discourage me. For it is faith, "Jihad" and effort in wars".
 

4. Some Reactions

On 26-9-91 the Sudan Al Hadith under the column "Hadith wa Ta'aliq" (page 2), the journalist Mohammad Said Ma'aruf writes:.. "The Minister of Education said ... that some popular schools subjugates the students and use the school for commercial purposes and not for educational aims... This verdict of guilty proclaimed by the Minister of Education without informing the reasons of it and the names of the guilty schools hae the consequence that now people started to guess who are these schools. Till now the accusation falls over all the private schools... and also the students became suspicious on their education and values... The journalist defends the role played by the private schools: "...The popular and private schools have taught, during the colonial times, more students than the government schools..." So, the journalist adds: "the Minister of Education is requested to explain his accusations because he is the first person responsible for education, both in the private and in the government schools".

Also Al Inqad Al Watani on 6-10-91 page 5, under the headlines "The popular teaching" the journalist recognised the role played by the popular schools. Four days later, the same newspaper under the column "Mawaaqif" the journalist Titawi recognised also the importance of these schools: ..."We certainly recognised the great role played by the private schools during the colonial times and after independence... but now it is necessary that these schools enter into the new general and higher educational revolution...". These two articles present the necessity of a dialogue between the Minister of Education and the popular and private schools".
Another reaction was written by Abd Al Wahab M. Abd Al Wahab "Lawyer Bob" in Sudan Al Hadith on 2-9-91 page 5 under the headlines "The Universitites and the Education Policies", where the author says that "the information received during the Press Conference with the Minister of Higher Education that now the Universities in Sudan will not be responsible for the students transports, food, and housing, terrified me... This is a fundamental mistake of the new policy declared by the Minister of Education... The presence of the Ministry of Higher Education restricts the independence of the Universities and stops their progress and impedes their fulfilment. The abolition of the Ministry of Higher Education will be better for the care of the universities' progress in Sudan".
 

5. The New Education Policy

The Vice-President, Brigader Al Zubeir Mohammad Salih, declared during a meeting with the treasurers of funds to support the students on 17-9-91, published in Al Sudan Al Hadith on 18-9-91 under the headline "Afaaw" (page 8), that: ..."the Higher Education Revolution is not only a problem of increasing the number of students but of the revolution regarding the foundation of education and the return to the true sources, such as the society's belief, its Islamic religion and its National culture..."
The same day "Al Qwat al Musallaha" on page 1 referred to the same speech of Brigader Al Zubeir M. Salih but there is a difference: instead of ..."the return... to its National culture (written in S.N. 17-9-91 page 8 as above mentioned), the "Qwat Al Musallaha" writes:... "and placed Arabizationlike an entrance to the Islamic foundation".

Also the same day and in "Al Sudan Al Hadith" page 8, the Minister of Education of Khartum State, Safia Abd Al Rahim, during a feast in Al Iurmuk school on 17-9-91 declared the Ministry's concern for the importance of the education and schooling of the people..." and it is concerned for sowing  the national spirit and the Islamic values...". She announced the donation of 50.000 Ls. for building a prayer place in the school and also informed her wish to rename the Sahafa schools with Islamic names and asked the people to diffuse her proposal in all the schools in Khartum State".

A similar report regarding the Khartum State Minister of Education's promise to build a mosque in the school compound, in this case in Tahnun school, was written in the same newwpaper on 23-9-91 p. 2 

The decree of developing the Afrinca Islamic Centre of Khartoum and transforming it into a University was announced in the column "Saut" of "Al Qwat Al Musallaha", page 3, on 11-9-91:
"...and with the Revolution of Higher Education established in the country under the "inqad" and with the directives of the country about the Islamic foundation and the Islamic courts and legislation, it wad decided to develop the Africa Islamic Centre into a University to assume a greater role in spreading Islam in Africa".

The new policy was presented also in an article written by Mahdy Saaty in Al Sudan Al Hadith on 10-9-91 page 3, as an answer to Lawyer Bobo about the "Education policy as rectification of the path". The author writes: ..."we must understand clearly that the country walks in a period of unity, reformation and therapy, so there must be no separation in the Salvation mentality between religion and state or between Universities and Mosques as it was the situation during the first Islamic period".

During an Educational Meeting in Dueim, the Minister of Education declared that: "...the children who do not pass through the "Kwalwa" or kindergarten of do not memorize a part of the Koran will not be admitted to the schools... the new educational programme will be a pure Islamic Religious Educational programme and the Islamic and African countries will be astonished...".
During the same meeting the Director Al Rukun Ibrahim Nail Lidam, member of the Council of the General Revolution of Education in Al Dueim region said: ..."The revolution establishes a pure Islamic programme in the Education field, a programme associated with the religion..." (Al Inqad Al Watani, 9-9-91 page 4)

In Al Sudan Al Hadith on 1-10-91 page 5, the journalist Ismail Muhammad Ali interviewed the Minister of Guidance, Abdalla Deng, about the role of this Ministry in spreading the Islamic religion: ..."It is assured", the Minister said, "that Sudan will play an important  role in Africa Islamization because Sudan is the carrier of Islamic and Arabic culture to Africa, but the enemies and conspirators distract Sudan with its internal problems and fighting in order to alienate Sudan from executing its important role ... We want to organise our own house. After we place the exemplary Islam in Sudan we will go to Africa, Asia and our European Muslim minorities..."

During a feast on occasion of the graduation of the military popular group "Al Faruq", the President Omar Hassal Al Bashir said: ..."The Shari'a society is not only the application of legal punishments but education and creation of the perfect, integrative society...". The President, after he declared the weakness of the Islamic society with its divisions, added:... "God chose Sudan to apply the Islamic Law and we came to fulfil the people's will... We are concerned eith the Koranic teaching and Koranic application and we cancelled the distinction or separation between school students and Koranic students that the colonialist wanted to be continued..." (Al Inqad Al Watani 13-10-91 page 9).

Conclusion: The overall impression is that the Education Revolution in Sudn is not only a matter of increasing the number of universities and students in every State, or improving the private schools and solving their teachers' problems. It is not the problem of increasing the subjects for examination or to change the language of teaching in schools and universities...

What emerges in these newspapers is that the aim of the new education policy is to create a perfect Islamic and Arabic society. To unify the country: one culture, Arab, and one religion Islam... "we cancelled the separation betwreen school students and Koranic students... no separation between universities and mosques... the new educational system will be a pure Islamic Religious Educational Programme... Islamization of school names ... to use the arabization as a door to the Islamic foundation", etc.

The newspapers present the Church, in this context of the new education policy, as an organization associated with  imperialism and whose aim is to spread, in her temples and schools, the "poison" of hatred among the citizens in order to destroy, through a satanic strategy, the Arab community and Islam. These ideas, spread through the press and repeated for years, help to create a mentality against the Church as an enemy of the Government policy and Sudanese society. They can give the Government the key to stop Church schools and all her social and pastoral activities.