A look at the Alternative Learning (ALP) Programme in Kadugli, Sudan
How ALP can provide a second chance for learning for children and adolescents who missed the opportunity to an education.
- English
- العربية
Al-Shaer School is located in Al-Shaer neighborhood and camp. The area which lies just a few kilometers from Morta neighborhood in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, over 700 kilometers from Khartoum, is home to many displaced families that have fled to the area from other localities.
The small school is home to a center that operates an Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) through the State-level Ministry of Education. The ALP is best described as an alternative venue of learning for children and adolescents who missed the opportunity to join schooling or have left the official school system at some point and this includes children affected by emergencies and conflict.
I have two children aged 10 and 13 studying in this programme and I hope the others can also catch up with their education.
Nasra John is an internally displaced person (IDP) with roots in Um-Surdiba. Due to conflict and the constant cycle of displacement, two of her seven children never went to school.
“I have two children aged 10 and 13 studying in this programme and I hope the others can also catch up with their education,” said John.
Sudan has 3.6 million children aged 5 to 13 years out-of-school and more than half of them are girls. This is the largest number in the Middle East and North Africa region. 76 percent of children of primary school age are in school, but this figure plummets to 28 percent at the secondary school level.
More than half of school dropouts live in war-torn states and refugees and IDPs are particularly impacted because sustained conflict and displacement also creates a persistent cycle of poverty and destitution.
Abdelbagi Musa who is a teacher in the school is aware of the manifestations of this complex issue.
“Many children from displaced families leave school because their families can’t afford to keep them in school and they have to get jobs in the informal sector,” said Musa.
The problem continues to grow as a proportion of them end up leaving their homes as well.
“We observed that many children who quit school also become homeless and by reducing school drop-out rates, we are also helping children return to their homes and to curb child labor,” said Musa.
I didn’t finish my education, but I understand the value of what they are learning, they are learning subjects as well as values and morals, they will understand what is better for them.
I have two girls in the ALP programme and it is their first time studying because we were displaced and had to relocate to another state and they missed out on the opportunity to join school for a number of years. They are now 9 and 12-years-old and it’s their first time in school
Yagoub Asaal Kanoona is from Kadugli and two of his daughters are enrolled in the programme.
“I have two girls in the ALP programme and it is their first time studying because we were displaced and had to relocate to another state and they missed out on the opportunity to join school for a number of years. They are now 9 and 12-years-old and it’s their first time in school,” said Kanoona.
Nasr Al-Deen Mohamed Tia, the head of the combatting illiteracy and adult, children and youth out-of-school education at the Ministry of Education in South Kordofan state said that Al-Shaer school targets 48 children and this year, most of them will graduate to join the official school system.
“The programme aims to do an intensive six-month course to bridge the gap between the children who have spent two or even four years out of school and the official school system we want them to return to,” said Tia.
The Ministry is overseeing 8 ALP centers in Kadugli locality with the support of donors. UNICEF has constructed 2 school units and provided learning materials to the centers. Overall, a total of 13,647 students are enrolled in ALP across Sudan and 450 ALP facilitators (62% of which are women) were trained.
The ALP was specifically tailored to support girls and boys who have never attended school, have dropped out or those who cannot be mainstreamed into the normal education system without catching-up the lessons that they lost. The ALP curriculum focuses on literacy, numeracy, and life-skills to help children mainstream into formal basic education, or alternatively enroll in skills-training to increase employability for improved livelihoods.
Educate A Child, a programme of the Education Above All foundation and UNICEF are working in partnership to continue supporting ALP centers in Kadugli and give children and adolescents a second chance at learning.
