Sudan has taken steps towards aligning its country’s education vision with that of the Global Education 2030 Agenda.
A 3-day workshop, Matching the Global SDG 4 Indicators with the Indicators of Sudan Ministry of Education Strategies, was held at UNESCO Khartoum office on 4-6 October 2016.
The workshop, held in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, was aimed at planning directors from states across the country, who were joined by education professionals, international organizations and NGOs.
The objectives of the event were to raise awareness about the Education 2030 agenda, identify gaps and propose realistic targets for Sustainable Development Goal 4, establish indicators for the next 5-year strategic country plan in Sudan and identify resources to realise the targets.
Opening the event, the Federal Minister of Education of Sudan, Ms. Souad Abdelrazig confirmed the commitment and support of her ministry for UNESCO and other education projects in the country in order to ensure maximum achievements for the SDGs and in particular for SDG 4 with its aim to “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.”
She encouraged participants to be creative when matching the Sudanese education context and realities with the indicators.
Workshop recommendations included increasing education expenditure to six per cent of GDP and/or 15 per cent of the government budget, strengthening accountability, transparency and good governance in all levels of the public education, building policies compliant with SDG 4 and the nationally selected education indicators and creating a suitable learning environment in schools integrating students with disabilities.
Other detailed proposals included opening channels between formal and non-formal education to ensure lifelong education, a review of the national curriculum at all levels of education, and strengthening items linked to well-being and success such as human rights and global citizenship values.
A move towards child-centred learning
Participants considered computerization of the youth and adult curricula and the expansion of e-learning to cover all states of Sudan. It was also felt important to encourage the private sector and/or other donors to invest in technical and technological education, to put in place a mechanism for coordination, monitoring and follow up the implementation of education plans and policies.
In respect to teaching practices a recommendation was made to abandon rote learning in favour of child-centred methods, to develop clear indicators for measuring those who had become literate and to include nationally-supported school feeding programmes in national policies and legal frameworks. Strengthening the status of teachers to improve job satisfaction and attract more people to the profession was also necessary.
Also in attendance at the event were Director General of the Educational Planning Department in the MoE, Dr Mohamed Salim, Secretary General of the National Council for Population, Dr Limia Abdelghaffar, UNICEF Deputy Representative, Dr Asako Saegusa, Secretary General of the National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, Dr Abdulgadir Noureddin, and UNESCO Representative, Dr Pavel Kroupkine.
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