Higher education

18 Nov 2010

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Short description of the higher education system

Sudan has 53 universities, but several universities may have a low level of activity. The foremost institutions are the University of Khartoum, which opened in 1956, the Omdurman Islamic University, which opened in 1912, the University of Juba, which opened in 1975, the University of Gezira in Wad Madani, and the Khartoum branch of the University of Cairo.

There is also the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum. Another institution, the Omdurman Ahlia University, was established as a private initiative aimed at offering vocational education, with curricula different from those of the government universities and focusing on fields such as administration, environmental studies, physics and mathematics and library science.

The Dinka University, established in 1977, graduated its first class in 1981. Intended to support national development through education and supply the civil service in southern Sudan, the university is in fact open to students from the whole country.

The period leading up to 1980 saw the opening of two new universities – one in Wad Madani in Al Awsat Province, the other in Juba in Al Istiwai Province – whilst in the decade that followed various institutes were upgraded to colleges, and many also merged with the autonomous Khartoum Institute of Technical Colleges (also referred to as Khartoum Polytechnic).

Arabic is the dominant language at Sudanese universities and has now almost fully replaced English.
 

Types of degrees

In higher education there is a variety of degrees that can be obtained at universities or higher institutions.

  • The Diploma, offered after two or three years of higher professional education;
  • The Bachelor (General), offered after four years of higher education;
  • The Bachelor (Honours), offered after five years of higher education;
  • The Postgraduate Diploma, offered after one or two years upon completion of the Bachelor course;
  • The Master, offered after two or three years upon completion of the Bachelor Honours course;
  • The Ph.D., offered after at least three years upon completion of the Master course.

Quality assurance and accreditation

In Sudan, the Evaluation and Accreditation Commission, part of the Ministry of Higher Education, is responsible for quality assurance and accreditation in higher education. It is a member of the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
 

Recent reforms

The revolutionary government of General Bashir announced sweeping reforms in Sudanese education in September 1990. Education was to be based on the permanence of human nature, religious values and physical nature. This was to be accomplished by a Muslim curriculum, which in all schools, colleges and universities would consist of two parts: an obligatory and an optional course of study.

The obligatory course, compulsory for all students, was to be based on “revealed knowledge” and would cover all disciplines. All the essential elements of the obligatory course would be drawn from the Quran and the recognized books of the hadith.

By early 1991, General Bashir had decreed that the number of university students be doubled and that Arabic replace English as the language of instruction in universities. (Source: US Library of Congress)

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