Sudan’s Bashir vows to improve education standards

March 23, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president and candidate of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for president in the next month election, Omer Hassan al-Bashir, has pledged to develop universities and improve educational environment across the country.

Bashir, who was speaking Monday in an electoral meeting with university students in Buri suburb in Khartoum, said they opened colleges and schools across Sudan because they seek to build a nation and put the country in the right place, adding this could only be achieved through science.

Thousands of enthusiastic students have gathered in support for Bashir’s candidacy in the elections scheduled in April.

Bashir praised the role played by students during the early days of his rule, saying they fought in the battlefront in South Sudan and offered a long list of martyrs.

“You are the ones who drenched Sudan’s land with your flowing blood”, he said.

Hundreds of students had fallen dead during the civil war in South Sudan when the government sent them to fight under the banner of Jihad [holy fighting].

The Sudanese president pointed that those who were kids when he came to power became scientists who make cannons and tanks, adding that one day a student will become a presidential candidate.

Bashir came to power on 30 June 1989 when, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, he led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of prime minister al-Sadiq al-Mahdi.

He called on arms bearers to make peace with his government, saying the country is rich in resources and could accommodate its entire people.

Bashir also warned the students against falling victims to bodies who seek to manipulate them to carry out foreign agenda.

The Sudanese president instructed that the work of the student body supporting his campaign continues beyond elections in order to participate in the societal dialogue and implements a program that secures future of the students.

The government says intending to include the civil society groups in a comprehensive national conference to discuss peace and constitutional reforms in Sudan.

(ST)