At 13, Afrah wants to become a surgeon, and the war engulfing her country, depriving millions of children of education, has not diminished the determination of this Sudanese middle school student.
Homeless during the months when she was out of school, displaced by the fighting that has raged since April 2023 between the army and its paramilitary rivals, “I reviewed my sections over and over again,” confides this teenager to AFP, in the camp of Al-Hichan, near Port Sudan.
She is one of the more than 25 million minors in Sudan, half of the population, of which over eight million are currently out of school according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
On a vacant lot at the site, tents, arranged in a square, serve as a school for over 1,000 students.
Close to a third of them initially followed a remedial program by the UN agency to catch up.
The camp now echoes with laughter, students play during recess, but most have survived horrors, experienced hunger, rocket fire.
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Context: The article highlights the challenges faced by students in Sudan due to war and the efforts being made to continue their education in a makeshift environment. Fact Check: The war in Sudan has negatively impacted the education of millions of children, with many being displaced from their homes.
