Education and training policies and systems in the Sudan: their impact and role in skills development and employment problem

UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Public Administration, Human Resources

and Social Development Division

EDUCATION AND TRAINING POLipiES AND SYSTEMS IN THE SUDAN: THEIR IMPACT AND ROLE IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM

by

Leila Taha Salih

Presented at the National Workshop oh Employment Planning and Productivity Enhancement in the Sudan

(Khartoum, Sudan, 22 - 25 October 1994)

United Nations Govawawnt of Sudan Economic Comission Ministry of Labour *

For Africa Administrative Rtfora

National Workshop On KopXoyaent Planning And Productivity SnhancMwnt

Education and Training Policies and Systems in the Sudan: Their Impact

and Role in Skills Development and Employment Promotion

Or* Leila ^aha SaXih

22 - 2

Education and Training Policies and Systems in the Sudan;

Their Relevance and Role in Skills Development and Employment Promotion

Since independence the Sudan has been continuously striving to achieve overall development to raise its people's standard of living, eradicate the grave causes and effects of socio-economic backwardness and achieve social justice and fair income distribution. Hence the target has not been only economic growth but overall development which involves a structural transformation of the economy, society, policy and culture that initiates and sustains self-generating and self perpetuating use and development of the people's potential.

The role of education in this multi-dimensional endeavour towards progress and social welfare cannot be overemphasized.

The relevant content of education is a crucial factor that contributes in several ways to fosters the development

process.

This paper attempts to assess the education, and training systems and evaluate how far the output thus generated satisfy the immediate needs of the labour market and are adequate for the targeted goal of overall development.

Historically the Anglo-Egyptian rule in Sudan (1899-1956) established modern schools and laid the foundation of the present system of education. The British administration was the first to announce specific aims for education. These were mainly to train a class of skilled artisans, spread a limited amount of education among the general population to understand the principles of government and to create a class of administration from the original inhabitants to fill the lower administrative posts.

Thus a three tier system of general education, four years for each level (4+4+4) was introduced. From the start, education was geared to "white collar H employment in the public sector which eventually led to a lack of respect for practical skills and a lowering of their value for the community.

This inherited system of education continued after independence up to 1970, despite several recommendations from local as well as international committees to alter it. In 1970 a new educational ladder, which extended primary education duration to six years, reduced intermediated and academic secondary to three years, each and upgraded technical education to the secondary level of four years (6+3+3/4)

replaced the old one. The official entry age was seven years;

in urban centers, with facilities, six years old were allowed X

but in rural areas children up to eight years can join.

However, as the primary level has been considered a terminal level in itself for the majority of the children,six years was considered a short period to qualify a primary school pupil for entering the labour market and earning a living.

After long deliberations the national conference on education, 19907 recommended several radical changes in the structure contents and methods of education.

These recommendations included the improvement of the internal efficiency of the system to allow for equal opportunities of access and success without regard to state, gender, urban /rural background, ethnic origin or social and economic status. The enhancement of the quality of education is emphasized to cope with the technological advances to improve the ability to learn more and prepare individuals to adjust readily and rapidly to unforeseen changes in the manpower needs and conditions of today's world of work; human resources are vital for socio-economic development.

All these have been embodied in the "Education Sector National Comprehensive Strategy 1992/2002" and have been legalized in the Organization of the General Education Act of 1992.

Hence a new educational system has been adopted with the following main objectives:

1- To inculcate in the young religious beliefs and morals to build the free and responsible character.

2- To buiId up a self reliant community and encourage ambition.

3- To develop a source of patriotism and legality within an improved spirit of national unity and pride.

4- To encourage creativity and develop thinking abilities through experience and technological training to achieve comprehensive development.

5- To develop environmental awareness among learners and promote the spirit of preserving the natural resources.

To fulfil these objectives the priorities governing the educational policy can be summarized as follows;-

1- Universalization of basic education in a three-year plan 1991-94 to be followed by compulsory basic education by 1995.

2- Development and diversification of secondary education to

include 60% technical subjects and establishraSht of mtilti stream secondary school with a unified certificate.

3- Development and modernization of curricula, educational research, school text books and teacher training to improve the quality of learning and achieve social change and economic development.

4- Eradication of illiteracy by the year 2000.

5- Expansion of pre-schaol education.

6- More attention has to be given to practical activities?

25% of the time table has to be devoted to practically oriented subjects with emphasis on environmental studies.

7- Improvement of the efficiency of the education system.

8- Education cost is the responsibility of the society and sources of finance have to be diversified.

The major changes pertaining to structure content and methods are discussed in more details below:

The Structure of Education:

The newly adopted structure of general education in the Sudan is of eleven years duration (8+3/3) preceded by two years of pre-schooling. It can be divided Into three stages

(Figure 1}

A. Pre-School Education:

This stage is now fully integrated in the structure of formal education according to the Council of Ministers Decree (1990). Children are admitted at the age of four for two years and then join basic education schools at six years. Pre-school education is provided In two types of institution;

Kindergartens and traditional Quranic school, Khalaws. The Khalwa Is supposed to be improved to allow for joining basic education schools.

B. Basic Education:

Or the first level following international classification is now extended to eight years. Children join this level at the age of six years instead of seven. This change can reduce the cost of this level and extend the period of gainful

employment.

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C. Secondary Educationt

On the second level is the final stage in general education. Pupils who pass the " Basic Level School Certificate Exam" can join the secondary school. Secondary education has undergone drastic change that ended the dual system of academic And technical education. Starting from the school year 1995/96 the secondary school would be a kind of comprehensive, multi- streams school which awards a united secondary school certificate. This new from of school is expected to enhance the external efficiency of the educational

system.

The Administrative Structure of Education;

The educational administration system has undergone many

changes since independence as a result of political

reorganization and/or extensive expansion of facilities. The Regionalisation Act (1980/81) instituted regional governments with wide powers and delegated all the responsibilities of general education, except technical education besides other services, to the regional governments. The fourth Constitutional Decree of 1991 emphasized the technical nature of the Federal Ministry of Education, technical education and other administrative services became the responsibilities of the states. Map (1) displays the 26 states administrative

distribution. By 1993 the Ministry of Education and the

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has been merged into one ministry, the Ministry of Education and Scientific research. Figure (2) displays the organization of the structure of this new Ministry. The specialized committees and general councils formulates the general policies for general and higher education. These are implemented ^ and followed up the general directorates of educational planning, curricula, research, examination and admission, finance and external relation and training, administrative and financial affairs, student activities and affairs and other units under the direct supervision of the Minister.

However, this new system is not yet fully implemented . Thus we would confine our diagnosis on the old system of education although it is phasing out as all the available data, and information (1991/92) refer to it.

This educational system (6+3+3/4) was of 12 years duration. It consists of three separate schooling levels ! Primary, intermediate and secondary. These three main levels were preceded by a pre-schooling stage as in the new system.

Pre-School Education:

This stage is of two types, kindergartens in big cities and towns and Quranic schools, in rural and nomadic areass

1) A number of Kindergartens are established by the Ministry

of Education though a higher number are run by other public departments, as well as individuals, private educational organizations, foreign communities and missionary societies.

In 1991/92 there were 1945 Kindergartens institutions

comprising a total of 965,230 pupils, supervised by 3463

mistresses. These mistresses qualifications ranged from

primary school leavers to university graduates. These variations in the level of teachers qualifications reflected the standards of the Kindergartens and hence the level of fees

charged; ranging from a few hundreds pounds in publicly

maintained to thousands in private ones. These fee-paying

institutions found in and confined to large cities widen the gap between rural and urban opportunities in educational

success.

2) Khalwa:

Here children of all ages are accepted (4 r 40 years).

Some children join a primary school, if one is available, at

age seven, the others may continue their study in the Khalwa

and later may join a complementary school. The new policy incorporate this community based, self- reliant institution in

the official channel to attain- basic education for all.

Nevertheless, both types of pre-schooling need innovative changes to make important contributions to cognitive as well

as skill development and knowledge acquisition.

Formal general education was divided into two levels.

A) First Level - Primary Education:

This level used to be of 6 years duration. Children were admitted at age seven. But in urban centres, with more facilities, six years old were allowed and in rural areas children up to eight years can join.

Public schools are free; nevertheless, it is expansive

for the poor families who cannot afford to send all their

children to school.

The official class size is fifty pupils and the stated pupils teacher ratio is 40:1; classes in urban centres are well above that but in rural areas are much lower.

Table (1) illustrates the variation in intake ratios in Northern Sudan. The national intake ratio in the first year primary was 70.7% in 1991/92; with marked disparities among

the states and between girls and boys. It varied from a high of 108.8% in the Northern state to a low of 45.4% in Darfur.

The over 100% intake ratios in girls and boys schools reveals

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that intake in this state was not limited to age seven only.

Though 79.3% of school age boys were admitted, the corresponding figure for girls was 61.9%. However, within each region there were discrepancies in intake ratios for girls and boys. The difference was only 5.8% and 7.3% in the Northern state and Khartoum, but 30.7% and 28.2% in the Eastern and Darfur respectively. Among states, the variation in girls admission ratios, 105.9% in the Northern state and only 31% in Darfur, was marked compared to that between boys, 111.7% and 59.2%, in these two states.

Table (2) shows the school age population for the primary level, the gross enrollment and enrollment ratio by state and gender 1991/92. It illustrates that the national enrollment ratio for primary education stood at 61.3% of the 7-12 age group. This modest average percentage disguises wide discrepancy between and within states

As observed above, the Northern state, also, had the highest enrollment ratio, 98.6% and Darfur the lowest, at 35%.

At the national level, boys enrollment ratio was a high 68%

against 54.2% for girls? wider differences within and between states are obvious.

However, the disparity among states, in girls enrollment ratios, 95.7% in the Northern against only 23.9% in Darfur, is marked compared to that in boys, 101.5% in the Northern and 45.2% in Darfur. Although these percentages indicate further Improvement from previous years, for example total enrollment ratio was 38.8% in 1980/81 (32.6% for girls and 44,5% for boys), the gap between and within the states and among girls and boys is far from being closed. Needless to say, the enrollment ratio is below the targets achieved in most low income countries of sub-saharan Africa; 70% and over (World Bank Report, 1988).

However, to implement UPE, serious studies conducted in the national and cultural context should provide guidelines on the factors that promote schooling demand and encourage regular attendance to utilize the scarce resources effectively. Interestingly, access to primary education is not always constrained by school supply and price factors« This is especially true with girls access to education which, research revealed, involves more than simply opening schools.

(3) Khalwa: In rural and nomadic environment, this

institution provides a programme of 4 years for those who continue their e^fccafcion. After that they can sit for an

examination equivalent to the 4tty gra<t» ievel, and those who succeed can join the complementary schools. In 1991/92, there

were 5015 Fekis teaching 253776 children in 4580 Khalwas all

over Sudan.

B) Second Level! y ,

1) The f4^st sta9e of the second level, intermediate

education, is &ow more or less part of basic education. But for availabilitV of statistical data, it would be discussed

for the purpose of this paper as a separate stage. It used to

extend over a .jiexiod .c-f three years. Access to this stage was

based on certain qwaliiicatiipns> the most important of which was the success in th$ J^ltfiafcjj- schools final examination.

Moreover the Availability 6f glac'es, geographical proximity

and the appropriate a£e are other limitations. The normal

class size was fifty pupils.

Table (3) shows that the modest national enrollment

ratio, 31.8%, disguised wide variations between state and between girls and boys in this level. The Northern state had

the highest enrolment ratio (69.1%) even higher than Khartoum (50.1%). Interestingly in both cases, the enrolment of girls are higher than boys. Most probable girls level of success

promoted the establishment of more facilities at this level.

The lowest enrolment was in Darfur, a third of the national

average; even worse for girls (7.3%).

The differences in the enrolment of girls and boys within

some states are limited in Khartoum and Eastern State,but in the Northern and Kordofan states it is as high as 15% and 11%

respectively. Similar to the primary level, the female school,

age population was less than the male of the same age group

(table 3) although under- enumeration in the census could not

be ruled out.

b) Vocational Artisan Training Centres:

These schools and crafts centers are established by the Ministry of Education to train drop-outs from both levels and educational wastage who could not join the intermediate stage in local industries using local raw materials. They offer a two-years course of training in indigenous crafts such as

leather work, woodcarving, rug and carpet making and later

expanded to include electrical installation, auto-machines plumbing and welding to give trainees marketable skills. These centres are operated as production units to cover part of the operating costs which are shared sometimes between state and the local communities, in 1991/92 there were 2044 pupils in 15 centres with different specializations supervised by 319 teachers and instructors. The department of youth and sports centres instruct over one thousand trainees annually.

Moreover, the vocational training centres organized by the labour department prepare over 4000 youths in their 15 centres for the labour market. Unfortunately, because of the large

number of drop-outs and the magnitude of wastage between levels, all these facilities enrol only a small fraction.

B) SECOND STAGE :

Secondary education is the final stage in general education. Pupils who passed their Intermediate School Certificate and now their Basic School Certificate could compete, according to availability of places, for joining secondary education or primary teachers training colleges which are now affiliated to education colleges at the university level. Secondary education is still of two types :

1) Academic secondary education :

It is of three years duration; and remains highly selective. Pupils are admitted to secondary schools after successfully passing the Intermediate School Certificate Final examination and according to availability of places.

The first two years comprise general education and,according to their second grade final results, third year pupils are streamed Into literary or scientific branch; the latter is sub-divided into mathematics and biology. At the end of the third grade, pupils sit for the final Sudan School certificate examination, leading to higher education.

Table (4) reveals that the national enrolment ratio for academic secondary schools in 1991/92 was 19.2%, with a large discrepancy between states. The highest was in the Northern state 39.1%, followed by Khartoum 37.6%, whereas Darfur state had a low of 4.7% and Eastern state 11.7%. On the other hand the national enrolment ratio for boys, 20.8%, ranges from 40.1% in the Northern state to 6% in Darfur and 12.4% in Eastern. The lower national enrolment ratio for girls, 17.7%, reaches a high of 38.2% in the Northern and Khartoum states, dropping to as low as 3.4% in parfur and to almost 10% in Kordbfan state. Regrettably, tfte less;developed states of the country, which badly need more etjucafced manpower to Initiate and manage developmental projects ahti programmes have the lowest overall ratios.

On the other hand, the female school population at this level (16 - 18 years) was far larger than the male's in three states Northern, Central and Kordofan though their enrolment ratios were far belpw In all of them. The secondary level,only, perpetuated the disparities by state and gender evident in the two lower levels.

B) Technical Secondary Education :

According to the International Commission on Technical Training (1966) recommendations, intermediate technical schools were phased out and converted to academic schools and technical schools, at the secondary level, were established.

At that time diversifying the secondary school curriculum to

include pre-vocational subjects had been a policy that flourished in many third world countries; the Sudan was no

exception.

Diversification of secondary education has been

emphasized since 1970; the main goal being to satisfy the

manpower requirement of the socio-economic development plans.

Technical secondary education is of four years duration after which students sit for the Technical Schools Certificate

Examination,

Many experts who were invited to evaluate this type of education claimed that the extra year given was not based on the time needed to provide a solid theoretical and practical education in the chosen field of the students specialization but rather on making it possible to compete in the Sudan Certificate Examination. There are four types of technical

education namely: industrial, agricultural (exclusively for boys), commercial (available for both) and home economics (for

girls only).

Table (5) displays the quantitative development by type of technical education in selected years.

Despite the importance of agriculture in a developing, country like the Sudan, agricultural education is expanding

very slowly. Only recently an agricultural school for girls

was established though females are predominant in rural areas

in almost all agricultural activities. However, the number of schools doubled between 1982/83 and 1990/91 but the number of pupils increased by only 15% over the whole period. During this same period industrial schools increased from 16 -t» 20 (25%) but the number of pupils increased by 20% during the

eight years? an average of 2,5% annually.

Home economics, the technical specialization for girls is not flourishing. Although a new school was added by 1990/91,

the number of pupils increased by only 37%. However, it was noted that technical secondary education is co-educational or available for both in exceptional cases. This limits the participation of girls in specializations that are;directly employment related. Thus it seems that secondary education for girls is designed to prepare them for higher education;

employability of female graduates of this level is not taken into consideration. The official policy of diversification of Secondary education called for the reverse of the enrollment distribution between academic and technical secondary schools

from 85:15 ratio to 15;85 in the long-run. Even the gradual

implementation of this policy would have been detrimental to

the progress of girls access to employment oriented secondary

education in industrial fields. Obviously, the only type of

technical education that increased tremendously is commercial

education, though the number of pupils decreased by 12%

despite an opening of a new school. However, it is important to note that this expansion over the years was affected by popular effort, which concentrated on this type of technical education only; a semi-academic facility. On the other hand, the policy of universal technical education may not be feasible or even the modest goal of achieving 50% enrollment as indicated by the extremely low rate of expansion. The

difficulty is not only financial resources, but the age old

stigma accorded to technical and vocational education.

Nevertheless, despite the higher costs per pupil of technical schools compared with those of vocational training centres, the graduates of the latter, contrary to the former's, in Sudan, "indicate that they were well trained for their jobs, experienced less than six months employment with over 50% requiring less than one month to locate a position, their salaries are higher and are more likely to be working

abroad" (Roy and Wolfe, 1985). Many experts in this field

emphasized that for countries with weak education tradition, vocational training institutions outside the school system are much more prevalent. However, in practice, the opposite prevails; whenever the country's secondary school system is being selective diversified schools are offered.

As the issue of an improved and balanced systern of secondary education is underway, the above viewpoints may

guide the decision as to how far this level can be

diversified.

Other forms of training include teachers trainings pre-service and in-service. Primary school teachers were accepted after the intermediate level for four years in education colleges for female and males. The intermediate

school teachers are either trained for one year in

Intermediate Teachers Training Institutions or in one of the in-service training institutions for two years after practicing teaching in schools for two years. In this later type of training a type of distance education is practiced;

student teachers taught in schools, worked individually in their assignments while kept in contact with an assigned supervisor in the training centres in the states or Khartoum.

An intensive in-service training programme for teachers has been launched to keep them abreast of the reforms in curricula and administration. These courses vary from two weeks to 3 months, more than f93 headmasters, inspectors and supervisors benefited from these courses. In addition to that 3000 teacher for perfecting Quran, 3000 for English language and 1200 teachers for displaced areas. Under the new basic education teachers are selected from successful secondary school leavers. They are expe/cteci to join Education colleges at the

university level for two years after which they are awarded

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the Intermediate Diploma. Later they may have the chance to study for further two years for B.A. or B.Sc.

Academic secondary teachers are selected from graduates of faculties of education and other university graduates. Some of them can be awarded a scholarship to study for the High Diploma in Education;

On the other hand, ndn-f<irmal education and adult education are complementary to the formal effort. Its clientele are those who did not have a chance in schools and drop-out of the formal System. They are supposed to be equipped with the necessary skills to enable them to participate effectively in developing their communities. It is a form of lifelong education aiming at capacity building and human development. The khalwa is supposed to be reformed and

integrated with ordinary primary schools by linking the four-

year- formal education given in the Khalwas to the 5th and 6th grades of primary schools. This institution is supported to take part effectively in educating adults. Other bodies for example Literacy and Adult Education centers, vocational training centers, apprenticeship, national crafts centers, youth training Centres as well as units in the Ministries, of Defence and interior and Higher Education institutioris all

have programmes which can be Classified as noh-formal

education. Adult education begins where forrii&l gducatibri ends comprising all out-of- school learning. As such it is considered instrumental in social change and limiting the chances of relapsing to illiteracy. The Ministry of Education, in an attempt to employ all potentialities towards the promotion of non-formal education endeavors to strengthen and activate the "National Council for Vocational Apprenticeship and Professional Training.

All these institutions of non-formal education are part and parcel of the effort to eradicate illiteracy in the Sudan.

As it is the main obstacle confronting political, social, economic and human development, a comprehensive campaign to eradicate the illiteracy of about 8 million youth and adult in the age group (10-45) has been launched. Table (6) arranged states according to the magnitude of illiteracy rate by descending order.

It is understandable that three southern states have the highest rates of illiteracy due to the security problems in which survival is the top priority. However, the picture is gloomy even in Khartoum the capital with a third of its population illiterates

Illiteracy rate (15 - 45} differ from urban to rural areas. As Table (7) shows, the overall rate in rural surrounding is more than double that in urban locations. Rural

Table (9)

Education Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP (Ls)

Year

1991/92 1992/93

Education Expediture

1,101,770,173 2,009,600,000

GDP *

401,813,000,000 863,503,000,000

%

0.3 0.2

Source: Economic Survey, Ministry Of Economic Planning &

Investment, 1992/93.

Table (10) shows the educational budget compared to the general budget in selected years. It illustrates that education expenditure has been increasing, in absolute terms in the last decade. It multiplied more than six times, over the whole period, but far less than the total government expenditure; seventy-eight fold. Although during the first period the rate of increase in educational expenditure was the same as the government's, it continued deteriorating far below it. However, in the absence of an educational price index it may not be possible to deduce whether there was a positive rate of growth or otherwise. As a ratio of government expenditure education's share loomed high in the early and mid 1980s. By the late 1980s the educational budget increased by 11% only and its share of the government expenditure dropped to less than half the previous share, 6.7%. After that, although total government expenditure continued rising and then dropped in 1991/92, the educational budget did not follow suit and its share continued falling to only 1.3% by 1992/93.

Most probable due to large share expected to come from locally mobilized resources and parents contributions.

Table (11) shows the unit cost or per pupil expenditure by levels. As customary the higher the level the more expensive the cost; academic secondary is three times the primary level and technical education is more expensive than academic education. Although the government pay for the teachers salaries, part of the current expenditure and text books, pupils families and self-help contribute generously for building maintenance, other current expenses and teaching materials.

The Relevance of the Curricula:

Over the years, all the committees and commission that shouldered the burden of reading the reality of general education concluded that the general education system suffered

13

women can hardly be called literate. By gender it is also

obvious Table (8) that illiterate women atS"M$_ and half times

men. As women constitute half the pdpulatiqft ot Sudan and they

are dominant in agricultural activities ih th# rural areas, this rate of female illiteracy i$ hot conducive to a rural

renascence* it may even render a speedy transformatioh of agriculture impossible. foot to mention their influence bn the overall socio-cultural development *

The comprehensive literacy campaign freed a considerable number of youth and adults from illiteracy. As a result the national illiteracy rates dropped from 72.9% in 1990 to 58.9%

in 1992 for both? females illiteracy rate dropped from 83.3%

in 1990 to 74.3% in 1993/94 whereas males rate dropped for the same period from 58.9% to 52.3%

Finance Of Education:

Although there is a large number of aided and private fee-charging schools at all levels, education is the Federal and States Governments responsibility. It is provided free, except for voluntary contributions by pupils families and the local communities. Several sources finance education in the

Sudan, mainly:

1 - The Federal Government, State Governments and Local

Councils.

2- Self-aid in cash and kind.

3- Foreign loans and grants.

4- Productive units (in technical and vocational institutions) in schools and newly recommended for universities together with the small investment ventures allocated to some of these.

5- Parents Contribution.

These multiple sources render it quite difficult to determine the actual cost and finance of education.

In the last decade the rate of increase in GDP which influence the educational budget positively or adversely has been severely hit by natural and man-made disasters; not less the attrition war in the south. Escalating inflation has almost crippled the national economy and limited its capability to supply more urgent basic needs. The share of the GDP assigned to education is greatly influenced by these economic conditions. In 1991/92 and 1992/93 GDP at constant prices were Ls.7447 and Ls.8423 millions. At current prices factor costs GDP amounts to Ls.401,813 and Ls.863,503 millions. As Table (9) shows in 1991/92, education expenditure amounted to 0.3% of GDP, but in 1992/93 it went down to only 0.2%. Although education is accorded a high priority a basic policy of the comprehensive national strategy is to make educational costs a responsibility of the whole society.

T-*-

scarcity of material resources, limited coverage, poor quality

of service and irrelevance to the majority of its clientele.

As the National Strategy pinpointed "This led to the

deterioration of the condition of the teacher, ana the

incompatibility of the abilities of the educated with the

needs of the progress of the Umma, and those of the productive

sector, economic, social and cultural development". "

Now Bakht-er-Ruda Institute retains all duties of revising the existing curricula, planning and developing new

innovations in addition to the preparation and revision of text-books, teaching manuals, selection, of teaching aids contributing in research, technical assistance, evaluation and training pertaining to curricula development. However, it is immature to evaluate the secondary level curricula which is not yet implemented. On the other hand. Table (12) displays the time tables for the 8 grades of basic education. This

level is extended to 8 years because it is terminal for most

children. Interestingly, as early as 1958, the Akrawi Report

drew attention to the fact that the elementary school

curricula did not prepare the children for life as

individuals, citizens or workers. He recommended the introduction of agricultural activities in the schools in

rural area and trade activities in the urban centres. The crucial role of rural education was emphasized earlier at the continent level. Balogh (1962) noted that: Africa future

depends on peaceful yet speedy transformation of african agriculture and a rural renascence is inconceivable without a

revolution in rural education. Later the Sudan Education Sector Review (1977) pointed that practical applied studies were completely ignored at all levels. Other experts proposed that the initiation of pupils into technology and the world of work should be a required element in curricula beginning in primary education and continuing through secondary education

On the other hand, in the existing academic secondary

even science is taught in a theoretical way because of lack of

laboratories, equipment and essential materials in most

schools, Tables (13 & 14) shows the academically biased syllabi. Home economics does not have a better fate in the absence of the specialized equipped room and the trained

teachers.

Nevertheless, all these suggestions to give the curricula

a practical slant were not implemented. The 8 years long basic

education school remains academically biased as the weekly

time-tables of the 8 grades illustrates. However, rural education (for boys) and Home-education (for girls) are part

of the syllabuses of the 5th to 8th grades. Table (11)

illustrates that basic school 5th grade have 3 periods, 40

minutes each per week of rural education out of 37; 8%* It is

reduced to only 2 periods for the 6th to the 8th grades? 4.8%

' ; t'r

of the total. Experience shows that these periods are more often used for revising examlnable subjects for the semi-and finalist pupils sitting for exams. The time for home-economic is similar to that for rural education - for girls even if there is the specialized teacher, a specialized room equipped with the appropriate facilities is a major problem. Most specialized room did not survive the extension of the successive education ladders. Industrial training is not an option, indicating the priority given for practical subjects.

The essential role of teaching in the delivery and contribution to the advancement and development of education are well recognized. To play such a role teachers have to be adequately qualified, trained and well motivated to gain the appropriate experience to sustain them in the job. Training is important to keep teachers constantly up-to-date in terms of knowledge and teaching skills.

Table (15) shows the number of trained and untrained teachers by level in 1991/92.

At the primary level one tenth of the teaching force is untrained, that may indicate that they were fresh graduates of secondary schools with no knowledge of pedagogic or education.

Similarly at the intermediate level almost one-third. In the academic secondary one-half and no training at all. It may be worse sometimes when the new graduate is not even qualified subject-wise to teach; a graduate of economics teaching english language. As Sudan Report explains "The status quo reveals that 50% of the academic secondary teachers, 47% of the technical teachers and 25% of the primary level teachers have no training of any kind for the profession"

As Table (11) indicates, the pupils teachers ratios are low for all levels. On the face of it, this indicate a better quality of education. A lower pupils:teacher ratio is congruent with smaller class size where pupils can get more individual attention and thus higher achievement. In a developing country this may not be true as a high number of teachers may not be basically qualified or even trained as shown above.

Another indicator of quality of delivery are per pupil expenditure on text books and on teaching and learning materials as Table (11) illustrates. Expenditure on both these items as in other school facilities are deteriorating and in most schools there were not enough text books for each class.

The prevailing rate of inflation eroded both these unit costs.

As World Bank Report (1988) noted "The declining ratios of non-salary expenses in most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa has constrained student achievement.

15

has constrained student achievement.

In an attempt to calculate the degree of internal

efficiency of basic education , the flow rates were obtained

from surveys in four provinces chosen as ideal representation of the four states of Central, Kassala, Khartoum and Darfur.

Table (16) shows the flow rates of the different grades of

primary school. From this table tine flow diagram (Fig.3) was

constructed. Using Cohort analysis and the assumption on which the flow diagram has been built, the degree of internal efficiency can numerically be computed as follows:

Ideal

Actual

input ratio output

6000 = 6.0

* 6000 1000 input ratio - 5706

output 613

Hence the wastage ratio

= 9.3

1,55

This ratio shows the educational system is inefficient since the system can produce only two graduates at a cost that is enough to produce three graduates.

The average length of study per graduate can also be obtained from the flow diagram which is equal to 6.5. This also indicate the high rate of repetition through the primary cycle.

Survival rates for the different grades are shown in the following Table (17):

Grade Rates

2 95.6

3 95.1

4 87.3

5 77.8

6 69.5

This table shows that 69.5% of the cohort can reach the final grade of the primary school. The flow diagram shows that 613% of the cohort can successfully complete the primary school whereas only 36.6% can pas through the cycle without repetition.

Repetition was not allowed in the lower grades and is severely restricted in higher grades. As repetition is freguent because of lack of remedial programmes, not allowing it only resulted in not reporting it; statistics on repetition are inaccurate or unavailable.

According to the official statistics, it is observed that, out of a cohort of 360,490 pupils enrolled in first year

primary in 1980/81, only 251,095 continued their education into the sixth grade by 1986; a progression rate of 69.7% and a loss of 109,395 pupils who either dropped- out or repeated in due course. Those who passed the Primary School Certificate

Exam and were admitted to intermediate schools (grade 7) in

1986/87 totaled 117,669 pupils, 46.9% of those who managed to stay up to the sixth grade. Only 420 pupils out of every thousand starting in primary schools can secure a place at the intermediate level. The remaining 53.1% (or 133,426) were not qualified for the next level, either because they failed the exam or because places were limited. More importantly, they were not prepared for the labour market but were too ambitious to pursue the traditional skills of their fwtanfl«

agriculture, animal husbandry or forestry. As UNICEF (1989)

noted " in most cases primary education is designed to prepare

and select the 20% to 30% who will go on to secondary schools.

It, therefore, is designed to fail 70% or 80% of its intake, who then leave with an education relevant to crashed hopes

rather than present realities".

However, out of the 177,669 pupils who joined the intermediate level in 1986, 118,583 continued toJthe second grade in 1987 108 and 119,238 continued to the third grade by

1988.

It seems that the selective system of examination resulted in a high holding power at this level, otherwise a

high rate of repetition might have compensated for drop-outs.

In 1989, those who successfully passed the final exam and could secure a place in academic secondary schools totalled 41,164 (34.5%) of these who continued to the third grade, and only 11.4% a cohort of 360,490 pupils in the first grade in 1980/81? loss of 319,326 pupils. By 1990, of those who completed grade 10, 42656 pupils could secure a place in grade 11 (104%) and 40,025 pupils proceed to grade 12 (93.8%). The high ratio, over 100%, in the eleventh grade was duetto the high rate of repetition because of the severe competition for

success in the High secondary School's Certificate

Examination <

However, despite a high holding power at this level, the retention rate out of the original cohort is only 14%.

17

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>;■,

i'} ," ;f

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y c V'1: "X J j

Ox ^{..>■ ; ■ '}

■!;■-.

Conclusions

The cost of education in the Sudan as in other developing countries has been rising faster than other costs because 01 its highly qualified manpower. Also the education system has developed into a large industry with a complex organization and administration. Education is the largest single producer and employer of educated manpower. Similar to other industries of its size it requires an examination and assessment of its production system and whether the means "education and

training systems11 lead to the desired ends "adequate skills

development" for immediate and future needs.

As has been discussed there was impressive quantitative expansion at all levels despite the economic stringency and natural catastrophes. At the qualitative level there was many serious steps but there is still need for more.

The objectives of national strategy emphasizes, apart from the spiritual refinement, the role of education in:

Strengthening the relationship between education and societal activities and development generally;

Nurturing self-reliance in individuals to render them independent of the state in catering for their needs.

Developing individual capabilities and talents, and facilitating training opportunities on equipment of

modern equipment.

All these should culminate in a basic education school which link theoretical and applied sciences offering in the end their graduate two choices; either to join the work market directly or after a training and an adaptation period of productive tasks in one of the institutions of continuous education and training programmes. The other alternative would be to join the global multi-stream and disciplines secondary school.

However to achieve these goals, the new basic school need

be more biased towards practical subjects. Moreover, as we have noticed all the facilities of vocational training cater from a small fraction out of the huge numbers that need badly this service. A serious effort has to be exerted in this direction expanding the facilities all over the states.

It is essential, using studies and surveys, to delineate the real causes: social and economic, behind drop-out and opting to stay out of school to optimally utilize the meagre resources at the disposal of basic schools and achieve the celebrated goal of education for all.

18

,, J-.

V t'' .

^.dtfi^^

Repetition is another waste of resources; more studies have to be conducted to pinpoint more effective remedial programmes. The new multi-streams secondary schools is a welcomed option to fill the gap between theoretical and practical courses and to encourage student enter practical education with a true desire based on personal ability instead of having to do so because of failure to secure a place in an academic school.

However, there is a wide option of such schools and more in-depth studies would reveal the more relevant to our environment. Last, but not least, educational budgets have to be increased at least for this decade. All these reforms can be ink on paper without the adequate budgets; good education

is expensive.

References :

1. The Comprehensive National Strategy 1992/2002, Sudan,

Republic Vol. I, Educational Sector

2. Sudan Report to the International Conference on Education, Geneva, 1992 and 1994.

3. World Bank (1988) " Education in Sub-saharan Africa.

Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization and Expansion".

The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

4. Roy, D. A. and Wolfe, R. (1985) "Regional Study of Alternative Modes of Vocational Training". Country Study*

Sudan. The World Bank, Washington, D. C.

5. Akrawi Report (1958).

6. Balogh, T. (1962) "UNSECO'S Colonial-style Plan11. The

Times, London, 5th January.

7. Sudan Education Sector Review, MOE Under-secretariat of

Educational Planning, 1977.

8. UNICEF (1989).

9. Educational Statistics, Ministry of Education (several

academic years).

IntakePercentage

Table(1) PrimaryLevelEducation: in1stgradebyStateandGender1991/92 state northern Khartoum Central Eastern Kordofan Darfur Total

Boys schoolAge (7-12) Years 17,003 42,719 86,162 43,559 50,025 84,140 323,614

intake 18,997 39,614 72,430 36,194 39,522 49,810 256,567

intake Ratio% 111.69 92.73 8&.06 83.09 79.00 59.20 79.2B

Girls SchoolAge <7-12) Years 16,644 42,680 82,386 42,960 48,413 80,458 313,541

intake 17,623 36,455 60,904 22,523 31,534 24,909 193,954

intake ratie»% 105.88 84.41 73.93 52.44 65.14 30.96 61.86

SchoolAge (7-12) years 33,653 85,399 168,54:8 86,519 98,438 164,598 637,155

Both intake 36,620 76,069 133,334 58,723 71,056 74,719 450,521

intake Ratio% 1Q6.S2 89.07 79-11 67.87 72.18 45.39 70.71 Source:EducottionStatisticsAcademicYear1991/92

Table(2) PrimaryLevelEducation: GrossEnrolmentandRatiobyStateandGender1991/92 State Northern Khartoum Central Eastern Kordofan Darfur Iota!

SchoolAge (7-12) Years 101,116 245,77* 4B7,229 244,972 270,530 451,197 1,800,817

Boys Gross Enrolment 102,677 213,744 355,969 163,679 186,693 203,987 1,226,749

Enrolment Ratio% 101.4 66.97 73.06 66.82 69.01 45.21 68.12

SchoolAge (7-12) Years 98,349 239,579 461,910 228,693 255,930 412,742 1,697,202

Girls Grose Enrolment Years 94,077 193,760 296,787 102,951 132,789 98,665 919,029

Enrolment Ratio% 9S.66 80.88 64.25 45.02 51.88 23.90 54.15

Both SchoolAge (7-12) Years 199,464 485,352 943,138 473,664 526,461 863,938 3,498,019

Cross Enrolment 196,754 407,504 652,756 266,630 319,482 302,652 2,145,778

Enrolment Ratio% 98.64 83.96 68.77 56.29 60.68 35.03 61.34 Source:EducatplonStatisticsAcademicYear1991/92

Table(3) IntermediateEducation GrossEnrolmentandRatiobyStateandGender1991/92 State Northern Khartoum Central Eastern Kordofac Darfur Total

Boya SchoolAge (13-15) Years 45,229 114,383 201,900 100,956 100,223 170,801 733,492

Gross Enrolment 27.B32 55,633 81,590 22,591 33,808 21,807 243,261

Enrolment Ratio% 61,54 48,64 40,41 22,38 33,73 12,77 33,16

Girls SchoolAge (13-15) Years 44,773 107,128 198,669 88,789 99,855 152,250 691,474

Gross Enrolment Tears 34,365 55,289 69,147 16,951 22,340 11,120 209,212

Enrolment Katio% 76,75 51,61 34,81 19,09 22,37 7,30 30,26

Both SchoolAge (13-15) Years 90,001 221,511 400,569 189,745 200,079 323,061 1,424,966

Grose Enrolment 62,197 110,922 150,737 39,542 56,14S 32,927 452,473

Enrolment Hatio% 69,11 50,08 37,63 20,84 28,06 10,19 31,75 source:EdueattionStatisticsAcademicYear1991/92

Table(4) AcadesticSecondaryLevelEducation: GrossEnrolmentandRatiobyStateandGender State northern Khartouia Central Eastern Kordofan Parfur Total

SchoolAge (16-18) Years 38,200 111,776 166,125 84,160 75,587 136,752 612,599

Boys Gross Enrolment 15,324 41,272 40,606 10,391 11,397 6,226 127,216

Enrolment Ratio% 40.12 36.92 24.44 12.35 15.08 6.02 20.77

SchoolAge -(16-1BJ Years 40,013 103,641 179,093 77,337 89,080 133,451 622,635

Girls Gross Enrolment years 15,289 39,636 33,225 8,572 B.875 4,462 110,079

Enrolment Hatia% 38.21 38,24 18.55 11.08 9.S6 3.36 17.68

SchoolAga (Z6-18) Years 78,212 215,417 345,218 161,517 164,666 170,203 1,235,234

Both Gross Enrolment 30,613 80,908 73,831 18,963 20,272 12,708 237,295

Enrolment Hatio% 39.14 37.56 21.39 11.74 12.31 4.70 IS.21 Source:BflueafctionStatisticsacademicYear1991/92

Table (5)

Technical Secondary Education:

By Type Of School, Pupils and Teachers Selected Years

TYPE

AGRIC INDUS.

COMMER.

H.ECO.

1982- SCH

3 16 37 2

-1983 PUP 1,338 6,526 13,140 281

3L988 - 1989 SCH PUP 5

20 42 2

1,468 7,744 13,303 349

T AC 52 344

242 11

1990 - 199]

SCH

6 20 38 3

PUP 1547 7,843 11,566 479

»

TEAC 67 316 221 17

Sources Educational Statistics Academic Years 1982/83, 1988/98

and 1990/1991.

Table (6)

itates Arranged In Descending Order According To Illiteracy Rate ITEM

2 3 4 5

u 6

7

\

3

!

STATE

UPPER NILE

EAHB.EL GH&ZAL DARFUR

KORDOFAN EQU&TGRI&

EASTERN STATS CENTRAL STATE

2JORTBERN STATE KHARTOUM

I

ILLITERACY AMONG 15-45 AGE GROUP

785,083 1,169,163 1,079,835 867,737 588,905 547,214

1,041,724 233,790 342,928 6,657,399

PERCENTAGE

86.3%

85.9%

76.4%

74.0%

71.2%

56.2%

48.3%

40.6%

31.8%

Table (7)

Illiteracy Rate By Location

—■—■""" ...p. ■■'■ ■ ■■■

LOCATION j TOTAL

URBAN RURAL

35.3%

73.8%

MALE

25.3%

60.6%

FEMALE

46.7%

84.2%

national Committee of Literacy and Adult Education, 1990.

Illiteracy Rate By Gender(8 )

57.3%

6 million persons

TOTAL

10 million persons 72.9%

Source: National Committee of Literacy and Adult

TABLE (10)

Educational Expenditure As a Percentage Of Total Goverxraesit Expenditure in Selected Tears

(in million of Ls)

year

1983-84

1985-86

1988-98

1990-91

1991-92

1992-93

Education Expenditure

(1)

326,760,000

579,536,550

647,371,633

965,618,031

1,101,770,173

2,009,600,000

% Inc.

77%

11%

49%

14%

82%

Government Expenditure

(2)

2,178,400,000

3,863,577,000

10,019,733,000

35,873,326,000

66,174,709,284

156,438,000,000

% Inc.

77%

259%

358%

84%

236%

1/2

%

15.0

15.0

6.7

2.7

1.7

1.3

SOURCE: Sudan's Report To The International Conference On Education, Geneva, 1992 and 1994.

TABLE (11)

Total Unit Costs, unit Cost on Teaching Materials and Text Books

(Ls.) LEVEL

Primary Intermed.

Academic Secondary Technical Secondary Teaching Traing In.

National Indus.cent

U. C.

Teaching Material

145.63 316.18

579.57 2919.90

2919.90

1357.17

U. C.

Text Books

252.54 558.21

762.01 625.73

S25.02

69.77

Total Unit Cost

1725.17 3852.99

4144.91 4861.36

5238.93

5318.70

Pupil.

Teacher Ratio 35:1 16:1

30:1 24:1

6:9

6.4:1

Source: « cost And Finance Of Education in Sudan", Ministry of Education Economics of Education Section, 1992

Table

The Weekly Timetable For 1 Basic Education

^^^^^^^ Grade • Subject ^^-^^ '

Religious Education

Arabic Language

English Language

Mathematics

Science

History

Geography

Physical Education' , Activities Cff* $/f *.

Arts -i

Rural Education *

tjome Economics **

Tptal No. Girls i

Total No. B6ys

lf

r

4

.0

-

i 6

-

J

4

2

-

2

i

24

24,

2

4

10 *

■ i

6

a

i

_ .

.2-

2

-

-

27

27

3

10

-.

6

i t

2

. 1

2

2

-

.2

_

29

29

4*

4

9

*•

6

3

1

2 .

2

1 4

2

-

t

33

33

5th

4

T

9,

.3

7

4

"2

1

1

2

1

.?

3

37

37

'6th

4

9

6

t

4

2

2

'l

_{■ t}

f'

2

1

2 '

2

t

40

•

t

4

9

'8

7 '

4

2

2

1

i

2

1

2

2

I ""

42

42

8th

4

9

9

7

4

2

3

1

-

I

'.2

2 .

42

42

* Boys 'only

, ' Table

f

Tlie Weekly .'timetable For Academic Sec School

, The First Two Grades *

Religious Educatioh

Arabic Language

English Language '"

French

Mathematics

Biology

t

Physics - . ■

Chemistry

Geography *

History

Arts f

*

Physical Education,

Civics

Total 1

t

t

1

3

t

6

6

4

6

t

2 .

2

; 2

3

3

*3

1

1

t

*

I

i

2 t

3

' 6 ,'

t

n 6

4

6

2

2

2

i

3

3

'3

1

1 t

42

i Table (

TJie Weekly Timetable for Grade Three

-• Secondary (Academic Education1

Compulsory Subjects

: t

Subject f

Religious Education Arabic Language

i

English Language * Elementary Mathematics

r

t i

l

4

I

1

r

1

Total No. of compulsory Periods

No. of Periods

3 7 6 6

22

.* 2^ Optimal Subjects^ 5

!

Subject *

i

i1 Mathematics Biology

Physics English Literature

ChemisU^

History i

*

Geography * ' French

!

Islamic Studies

Arts

Environmental Studies

No. of Periods

4 3 3 4 3

4

1 3

, 4 3 4

t

3 '

* Apupil has to cfioose at least two subjects and at most 5 subjects.

■ f