Experts at Zain Forum: Sudanese Universities Overcome War Damage, While “Decision 83” Opens the Door to Recovery Despite Challenges

Sudanhorizon – Follow-ups

Sudanese experts and academics affirmed that the country’s universities have succeeded in overcoming the destruction caused by the war through exceptional resilience that enabled them to preserve academic records. They stressed that Decision 83, which calls for the closure of universities’ external centers and their return to Sudan, presents logistical and economic challenges but also opens prospects for recovery and the restoration of the country’s educational trajectory.
The remarks came during the eighth episode of the Zain Interactive Forum, held on Wednesday evening, August 19, under the title “Decision to Close External Centers of Sudanese Universities: Implementation Challenges and Prospects for Recovery.” The forum brought together a group of experts to develop solutions and present the discussion’s recommendations to the relevant authorities.
Professor Abdel-Azim Al-Mahal, Deputy Director of Sudan University of Science and Technology, outlined the overall higher education landscape in Sudan. He revealed that the sector comprises 164 universities—38 public universities accommodating 58% of students, and 126 private and non-profit universities accommodating 42%. The country has approximately 670,000 university students, while the number of faculty members exceeds 21,000 across various academic ranks.
Al-Mahal revealed that university operations through external centers had been “unregulated,” noting that higher education had not received any external support. In this context, he explained that Sudan University of Science and Technology suffered extensive destruction, with initial losses estimated at approximately $262 million. To date, the university has received less than $1 million toward those losses. He confirmed that the university has already begun reconstruction and has fully returned to operating in Sudan.
For her part, Professor Amna Al-Sadiq Badri, Assistant President of Ahfad University for Women, highlighted the university’s extraordinary measures to maintain education during the war. She said examinations were organized at Madani National College and “Sudan House” in coordination with the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo.
Badri also pointed to exceptional efforts to transport female students by military aircraft so they could sit their examinations, as well as cooperation with Sheikh Abdullah Al-Badri University in Berber to host students from scientific faculties and collaboration with the Arab Academy in Cairo.
Professor Qureshi Mohammed Ali, Executive Director of the National Company for Advanced Education Systems, said the National University resumed classes only two weeks after the outbreak of the war. Academic data was preserved, studies were transferred to Port Sudan, student dormitories were established, and some students were even hosted in Zanzibar before the university eventually returned fully to Khartoum.
Qureshi stressed that “training in Sudan has no equal in any other country,” calling for families’ economic circumstances to be taken into consideration when setting tuition fees and regulations.
He confirmed that no graduating cohort at the university had been delayed, adding that the institution had hosted a large number of students from other universities.
The discussion was moderated by Professor Idris Salem Al-Hassan, former Deputy Director of the International University of Africa, who highlighted the successful measures taken by the university to preserve distance learning and withstand the impact of the war.
The session witnessed significant engagement from forum followers across digital platforms.

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