3.1.6. Education

Schools continued to be targeted by armed groups.581 Sources indicated that most schools remain closed for the second school year in a row and that more than 17 million of the 19 million school-aged children are out of school.582 Over 110 schools and hospitals have been attacked since the beginning of the conflict,583 and as of May 2024, 2 500 schools, i.e. 13 % of all schools, are used as IDP shelters, affecting the education of over two million children in host communities.584 Some schools and universities have reopened in states considered as 'safe'; however, the Ministry of Education has opposed the move indicating that it would create 'educational disparities' across the country.585

UNICEF indicated that on 16 September 2024, 600 schools were reopened in Red Sea state, receiving children 'from the state, as well as children from elsewhere in Sudan displaced by the ongoing conflict'.586

Additional information on education in Port Sudan within the time reference period could not be found among the sources consulted by EUAA within the time constraints of this report.