Teachers’ Committee: Secondary Exams Are a Sovereign National Matter

Moatinoon
The Sudanese Teachers’ Committee has described the education file, particularly secondary school examinations, as a sovereign national issue that must not be subjected to political or military conflict. The statement came in response to an announcement by the de facto authorities in Nyala about forming a supervisory technical committee for the 2025–2026 secondary exams.

In a statement, the committee said the move reflects concerns it has raised since the outbreak of war on April 15, warning against turning education into a tool for entrenching geographic and political division instead of serving as a bridge for national unity. It noted that multiple decision-making centers regarding exams, tied to areas of military control, could effectively create a divided education system that signals a de facto partition of the country, even if undeclared.

The committee added that rivalry between authorities in Port Sudan and Nyala to assert governing legitimacy within their respective territories through the exam process translates those fears into reality, stressing that the Sudanese secondary certificate is not a local administrative procedure but a symbol of national unity and state institutions.

It emphasized that education must serve peace rather than division, calling for a comprehensive national consensus to establish an independent, neutral national committee of education experts to coordinate exams across all regions, away from political and military polarization.

The statement also argued that if rival parties, including the Rapid Support Forces, have managed practical understandings on oil flows between areas of control, they should likewise agree on nationwide exams in the same spirit, because education is too vital to be held hostage to disputes.

The committee concluded by urging the immediate neutralization of the education sector and the organization of a unified national exam that preserves students’ rights and the country’s unity, warning that politicizing or fragmenting the secondary certificate threatens an entire generation’s future and deepens national wounds.