Council of Ministers forms national committee to address Sudan’s education crises
June 2, Khartoum — The Sudanese Council of Ministers on Tuesday announced the formation of a high-level national committee tasked with addressing the deep-seated crises plaguing the country’s education sector, while simultaneously tackling delayed salary payments amidst growing discontent among teachers.
The cabinet intervention follows a wave of labor unrest, including a coordinated strike by schoolteachers in the East Nile locality of Khartoum State—which was met with security summons and the dismissal of school principals—and an upcoming statewide strike in Kassala scheduled for June 7.
Following the cabinet meeting, Information Minister Khaled El-Ayser stated that the council directed the establishment of a national committee to structurally resolve long-standing educational issues. The directives include localized manufacturing of school furniture to tackle student seating deficits across all states.
El-Ayser further explained that the council ordered the immediate revitalization of national printing and publishing institutions to resolve the acute shortage of textbooks, alongside implementing a fair distribution system for teachers to preserve the quality of the educational framework.
Addressing the core trigger of the recent labor protests, the Council of Ministers extensively debated the issue of chronic salary delays and sought radical solutions to stabilize payments. The minister emphasized that the government is instituting a new governance methodology centered on national development, deploying short-, medium-, and long-term plans that place education at the forefront of state priorities.
Sudanese teachers have long decried the severe erosion of their purchasing power due to the continuous devaluation of the local currency, which has been accompanied by a sharp inflation spike in the prices of basic commodities and essential services.
The current labor disputes unfold against the backdrop of a catastrophic educational crisis across Sudan. The vast majority of schools in active conflict zones and across the Darfur region have been shut down, exposing millions of displaced and out-of-school children to the dangers of forced military recruitment, exploitation, and vagrancy.
According to El-Ayser, Prime Minister Kamel Idriss strongly underscored the necessity of sustained efforts by specialized educational committees to attain the government’s strategic objectives in the coming phase. The Prime Minister affirmed the cabinet’s readiness to secure educational requirements across all regions, with a particular focus on conflict-affected states during this critical juncture.
The cabinet session reviewed a comprehensive report on educational challenges and developmental prerequisites presented by the Minister of Education, Al-Tohami Al-Zain Haggar. The report outlined foundational arrangements for an upcoming national conference dedicated to upgrading Sudan’s educational system.
The education minister additionally proposed structural remedies to address pressing shortages in school seating, infrastructure needs, and the implementation of a national school feeding program. In recent months, humanitarian organizations have attempted to scale up school meal provisions to combat rising malnutrition rates, mitigate school dropout margins, and encourage families to keep their children enrolled in classes.