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Sudan and the Right to Primary Education:In addition to the international and regional conventions, Sudan’s Interim Constitution (2005) and the General Education Act (2001) are the main domestic instruments in regard to the Right to Education. The Interim Constitution has been adopted as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that was concluded between the government and the SPLM/SPLA. This Interim Constitution, which contains a Bill of Rights, constitutes a remarkable achievement in respect to human rights in general and the Right to Primary Education, in particular.
All domestic related instruments recognize, to a degree, the Right to Education. However, the Interim Constitution, alone, imposes an obligation on the State to provide free primary education for the first time. The Interim Constitution reiterates one of the two elements provided for in Article 13 (2) (a) of the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which reads: “primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all.”
Article 44 of the Interim Constitution, in return, states that:
“(1) education is a right for every citizen and the State shall provide equal access to education without discrimination as to religion, ethnic origin, gender or physical disability.
(2) The State shall provide free primary education.”
It is obvious that Article 44 fails to provide for a compulsory primary education and it uses the term “citizen” instead of the ICESCR more wider terms. Nonetheless, this progressive Article has put a constitutional end to the government’s previous policy, language and strategy in regard to education. For instance, Sudan’s National Report to the International Conference on Education in 2001 has stated that “one of the pillars of the strategy of education is that the community has to bear the responsibility of financing and spending on education .” Article 44 (2) however, has stipulated that the government is now under the obligation of providing free primary education to all.
In the light of the ICESCR and Sudan’s Interim Constitution, how and to what extent the government of Sudan is carrying out its legal obligations in respect to education?
Primary Education, which is “the main delivery system for the basic education of children outside the family, ” “has two distinctive features: it is ‘compulsory’ and ‘available free to all’ ” To answer our previous question, an examination of these two “distinctive features” in addition to the four “essential features” is necessary.
Free of Charge Primary Education?In 1992 the government of Sudan launched the so called “the Education Revolution.” As a result, the “educational ladder” in the country has been changed. Instead of comprising 9 grades, primary education has become an eight-year stage to accommodate children between the ages of 6 and 13 year old .
A year later, federalism was introduced - coupled with free-market policy - to decentralize the government’s financial obligations. Localities have become solely responsible for funding primary education. Until these measures were undertaken, the State had been providing primary education as a free social service.
In 2001, the UNDP conducted, responding to a government’s request, a comprehensive sub-sector analysis for the basic education system in the Sudan. Evaluating the effects of the decentralization of finance, the thorough study has concluded that “there is significant evidence in the case of Sudan that such an approach to decentralization and local autonomy has resulted in enormous variation in the capacity of States and Localities to provide basic education.”
In addition to such disparities, the overall expenditure on education remains significantly dependent on what the government calls “popular support.” The UNDP study has stated that: “When it comes to the running expenses as such, the schools rely heavily on the parents whose contribution was more than 6.5 times as much as that from the mahalyas ”
To cover education expenses, each locality, and probably each school in the country, has developed different types of fees. Students are being charged for exams, enrollment, textbooks, compulsory “especial classes,” and equipments. In one of the surveyed localities, the UNDP study has found that, “for (supposedly free) textbooks, the parents paid SD 684,694 compared to SD 166,582 from the mahalya (exclusively for transportation fees.) ”
These figures show that the parents had paid about 76% of the total cost of their children’s textbooks. Local governments are supposed to contribute, with communities, towards teachers’ salaries. Nevertheless, the failure in paying these very low salaries has always been a common place fact. Schools are being often closed for long periods due to such failure.
In general, the quality of education has been highly impacted by the government non-compliance with the provisions of Article 13 (2) (a) of the ICESCR. The UNDP ad hoc survey has established the fact that Gezira State, the richest State in the country, was spending $13.7 per pupil, while Guli was spending only $5. The same study has noticed that the average spending per pupil in the Least Developed Countries was $29, while it was $90 in the developed countries.
It is very relevant to mention here that the Committee has declared that “sharp disparities in spending policies that result in differing qualities of education for persons residing in different geographical locations may constitute discrimination under the covenant. ”
The Failure of Making Primary Education Compulsory:
In its National Report of 1996, the government of the Sudan declared at the International Conference on Education that “basic education will be compulsory in 1998 for all children of eligible age. ” Like many other unfulfilled promises, primary education has not been made compulsory in law or in fact. No legal or administrative measures are yet in place to make sure that children who are in the primary school age are attending classes. As we have mentioned earlier, the Interim Constitution has not provided for this requirement despite the fact that the Constitution has been adopted almost a decade after the government’s commitment.
The country’s population under 15 years old constitutes 45% of the total population. However, the Gross Enrollment Rate of eligible children into the primary education system is very low. The most recent available government’s data (2004) puts that rate at 59.4% in North Sudan . No data is available regarding South Sudan which is believed to be far worse in all aspects. So far, no plan of action has been authored under Article 14 (ICESCR) to make possible the progressive realization of this fundamental requirement. Sudan’s subsequent reports to the International Conferences on Education in 2001 and 2004 have not addressed this issue at all.
The availability of Primary Education in the Sudan:
General Comment No. 13 explains that availability is one of the essential features of the Right to Education. It states that: “functioning educational institutions and programmes have to be available in sufficient quantity within the jurisdiction of the State Party.”
In the case of the Sudan, the available data clearly indicates that the sufficiency requirement has not been nearly met. In the year 2000, “more than 3 million of basic school children have been enrolled, yet an equivalent number of children are still out of school.” In the same year, there were only 11982 schools countrywide .
These total figures, however, does not reflect the real situation in the country. The figures are almost insignificant without examining the wide disparities in regard to their actual distribution among the country’s various regions and States.
After the 2001 ad hoc survey, the UNDP has stated that in Elgadarif State, for instance, “many schools that were visited did not have a single seat for pupils. Also a third of the villages have no school at all.” The survey has found that while the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) in the Northern Region was 84.4% it was only 31.4% in Dar Fur Region.
Sudan’s government admits that “the weak infrastructure has led to an unbalanced growth in terms of access, efficiency and quality. Disparities in enrollment rate in terms of gender and geographical areas are common. ”
According to the government’s National Report of 1996, while the average number of students in the class room was 36 in River Nile State, the same average was 86 in Sinnar State. The same report has also admitted that “there is insufficient number of class rooms and in some areas the class size is more than 100. Schools are also lacking in basic furniture, laboratories, recreational activities and playgrounds. ”
General Comment No. 13 considers “trained teachers receiving domestically competitive salaries,” and “educational materials” to be some of the basic requirements to fully satisfy the availability feature of education . As we have already mentioned, teachers suffer from a chronic failure on the part of local authorities in respect to receiving their salaries. In some localities, they have to wait for many consecutive months before getting paid. On the other hand, training programs for teachers are either non-existent or poorly financed. The National Report for the year 2004 states that “At present we have 132041 teachers in basic education, only 10% of them have the required qualification of a Bachelor’s degree .”
School textbooks have been impacted, as well, by the financial incapacity of the localities. The National Report of 1996 has stated that “School textbook is a basic tool . . yet it is not available in sufficient quantities. ” Five years later, the government has reiterated the same fact: “the current situation shows that the ratio of pupil / textbook is below the minimum ”
All these realities strongly support the conclusion that the government is in fact violating Article 13 (2) (a) of the ICESCR by failing to make the primary education system available to all on equal basis.
Providing Accessible Primary Education in the Sudan:
After affirming that “education in all its forms and at all levels” should be made “accessible to everyone,” General Comment No. 13 proceeds to explain that “accessibility has three overlapping dimensions: non-discrimination . . ., physical accessibility . . . (and) economic accessibility. ”
Regarding primary education, economic accessibility has only one meaning: primary education should be provided to all free of charge. We have already seen how the government of the Sudan is in violation of its conventional obligations in this regard.
In its National Report of 2004, the government of the Sudan has declared that “the achievement of equity, whether in gender or between regions, is a priority issue in our educational policy. ” However, the latest available figures (2003) have shown that out of the 59.4% GER, boys constitute 62.9% while girls represent 56.1%. According to these figures, the Girl/Boy Ratio is 0.891. The government admits that “the gender gab remained almost constant in favor of boys .”
The UNDP study has calculated the GBR for 2000 as to be standing at 0.869. The study has concluded that this figure (which is less than the current) “is better than what has been observed elsewhere in countries of a comparable level of development.” The study has added that the GBR “stood at 0.992 in the developed countries, 0.886 in developing countries and 0.749 in the least developed countries. ”
These figures show that Sudan has a relatively fair national performance regarding gender parity in primary education. However, this fact camouflages more serious disparity issues on the State level. The GBR widely varies among States and Localities. In 2000, West Dar Fur State had only 0.622 GBR, Sinnar State 0.691 and West Kordofan 0.747. All these GBRs are actually lower than they were in the Least Developed Countries . Thus, the realities of the accessibility of primary education are, in fact, hidden beneath the inequalities among States in respect to the availability of primary education.
This paper can not practically examine the issues relating to both acceptability and adaptability of primary education. Such exanimation requires the studying of the education content itself. No reliable information is available for such purpose at this time.
Protecting the Right to Primary Education in the Sudan:
In its National Report for 2004, the government of Sudan has reaffirmed its will to pursue many objectives including “fulfillment of our national, regional and international commitment in the field of education. ” Such pledges have been often made without actually been followed by a notable change in policies.
The international and regional mechanisms of protecting the Right to Education are clearly too weak to guarantee the government’s compliance with its respective obligations. However, the domestic legal framework has recently witnessed an important development that could play a significant role in protecting human rights in the country. As a part of a comprehensive peace agreement, an Interim Constitution has been adopted in July 2005. This Interim Constitution contains a very progressive Bill of Rights that has incorporated some of the socio-economic rights, as well. Article 27 of this Constitution defines this Bill as “it is the cornerstone of social justice, equality and democracy in the Sudan. The State shall guarantee, protect, and fulfill this Bill. All rights and freedoms enshrined in international human rights treaties, covenants and instruments ratified by the Republic of the Sudan shall be an integral part of this Bill.”
For the first time in the country’s history, the Interim Constitution has provided for the establishment of an independent Constitutional Court in addition to a Human Rights Commission. Article 122 (d) states that such a Court is to be established to “protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Since its adoption a year ago, the Interim Constitution has been slowly materializing. It is true that these new institutions have not yet been established. However, the future of protecting the Right to Primary Education seems to be depending on them.
In a way of comparison, Sudan’s Interim Constitution has explicitly obliged the State to provide a free Primary Education while the South African Bill of Rights (Article 29) has not done so. When the Constitutional Court is established in the Sudan, Social Action Litigations might have a wider scope and more concrete base to work on in regard to the Right to Education. Nevertheless, the Constitution is, in fact, an interim one. Its future depends on the result of the referendum scheduled to be conducted in 2011 to settle the question of the unity of the country. Until then, there seems to be a newly introduced mechanism that might qualify, with more awareness and effective employment, for a better protection of all human rights in the country.
For copy of the Interim Constitution
http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2005/govsud-sud-16mar.pdf Sudan National Report 2001, Page 39.
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE/natrap/Sudan.pdf UN Committee on Economic, Social and cultural Rights, General Comment No. 13, Paragraph 9
Ibid, Paragraph 10
Sudan National Report 1996, Page 18
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/countries/countryDossier/natrep96/sudan96.pdf UNDP and UNESCO: Sudan Basic Education Sub-Sector Study 2000-2001, Paragraph 16.44, Page 55
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001365/136541e.pdf Ibid, Paragraph 10.12, Page 22
Ibid
UNDP Sub-Sector Study 2000-2001, Paragraph 10.11, Page 20.
General Comment No. 13, Paragraph 35
National Report 1996, Paragraph 3.3, Page 20
Sudan Ministry of Finance: Economic Potential & Development Prospects
http://mof-sudan.com/English/index.htm Sudan National Report 2004, Page 11
http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE47/english/N...eports/sudan_ocr.pdf General Comment No. 11, Paragraph 6
Sudan National Report 2001, Table 3, Page 18
UNDP Sub-Sector Study 2000-2001, Paragraph 9.6
Sudan National Report 2001, Page 43
Sudan National Report 1996, Page 30
Ibid, Paragraph 10.3. page 37
General Comment No. 13, Paragraph 6
Sudan National Report 2004, Page 16
Sudan National Report 1996, Page 36
Sudan National Report 2001, page 35
General Comment 13, Paragraph 6
Sudan National report 2004, Page 24
Ibid
UNDP Sub-Sector Study 2000-2001, Para 9.14, Page 15 – 16
Ibid, Paragraph 9.16, Page 18
Sudan National Report 2004, Page 8
بكرى ابوبكر
عبد المنعم سليمان
صالح عبده
Elbagir Osman
فدوى الشريف
احمد حماد ادريس
محمد النعمان
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست