Hope in a backpack

It’s a fun-filled day at Arabee Aradawiya girls’ school in Damazine, Blue Nile State.

More children have recently joined the school thanks to the UNICEF- supported back to learning campaigns across the state. Enrolment has now reached 500 pupils, including 120 displaced and refugee children.

Across Sudan, the education of over 17 million of children has been severely disrupted by the ongoing war.  While many families remain displaced, UNICEF and its partners are rallying parents and caregivers to enroll their children back into learning.  

Schools not only continue supporting education for millions of children in Sudan, they also serve as safe spaces during the ongoing conflict.

“The campaign is very important because it allows children to continue learning after more than two years away. That’s a huge learning loss,” Abdalla Dagot, UNICEF Education Officer.

At Arabee Aradawiya girls’ school it is buzzing with energy. Girls run, play, share jokes and snacks, and whisper to one another before the bell rings. Classrooms are full — four children per bench, two teachers per lesson.

Today is special: the children receive learning materials - schoolbags, pencils, notebooks, erasers, coloured pencils, rulers, and math sets. Many left everything behind when they had to flee the conflict, and families cannot afford even basic supplies.

“A child without a pencil is a future without possibilities,” Abdalla Dagot says. 

Across the compound, girls beam with excitement, hugging their new backpacks — filled with the tools they need to restart their learning journey and chase their dreams.

Ten-year-old Anfal is all smiles.  “Not being able to go to school for a long time really bothered me,” she says.

“Education is very important to us. We must go to school even during the war so we can learn and not lose out for years.”

Walaa, a third-grade pupil, missed school deeply.  

“What I love most are the colors and the notebooks,” she says. 

Aden, 10 years, missed her teachers. Clutching her new geometry set, she looks forward to perfecting her favorite subject, mathematics.

“There’s no time to stop education,” she says. “Education will help us rebuild our country.”

Tawasol, displaced from Khartoum, loves art and drawing. With a packet of coloured pencils, she begins to find joy again- and new friendships in her new school.   

Previously, Renad used a plastic bag to carry her books and pen. Now, with her new backpack, her notebooks are safe and organized. For her, returning to school means more time and precious walks from home to school with friends every morning. 

Empowering teachers, supporting quality learning 

While more schools are reopening, around 40 per cent of schools still lack essential teaching materials. As part of the campaign, schools will also receive teacher instructional kits- rulers, compasses, chalk, clocks, and notebooks- to enhance lesson delivery and improve learning for displaced and vulnerable children.

Education for all: inclusion through learning

At Arabee Aradawiya girls’ school, displaced children, refugees, and children from host communities now learn side by side- fostering social cohesion and healing. With the right tools, they’ve been given the chance to dream again, their future aspirations now in sight as they remain in the small classrooms. 

Headmistress Noor Abdalrahman commended UNICEF for the timely support while highlighting the enormous needs.  

This girls’ school is just one of hundreds of primary schools across the state being reached through enrolment campaigns and learning supplies under the European Union supported Integration and Mainstreaming of Refugee Children into the Sudanese Education System (IRCSES) initiative.

Guided by the principle of leaving no child behind, the initiative will provide safe, inclusive, and quality education to more than 170,100 children across all 418 schools in Blue Nile alone — including displaced, refugees and host communities’ children. More children in the River Nile and Kassala states will benefit from the same programme.