Sudanese refugees in Egypt… problems hindering the enrollment of their children in schools

For many Sudanese refugees in Egypt, enrolling children in Sudanese or Egyptian schools has become a struggle for economic and residential reasons.

For example, Susan Sudan Adam Suleiman fled the conflict in her home country, Sudan, and traveled to Egypt in May 2024 after exhausting all means of survival. Susan left Sudan with her five children and her sister, and her 14-year-old son is now the main breadwinner for the family.

The family lives in a shared apartment with other Sudanese refugees. Susan says her main hope is to give her family a private place and find a way to enroll her children in school.

Suzan told Reuters TV, “We pay the fees and then we register. Registration is 250 pounds, and there are people who say registration is 500 pounds, but I haven’t found anything… I only have a penny to register for it. “

She said she knocked on the doors of organizations, but found no response to help her enroll her children in schools.

The Sudanese are knocking on the doors of useless organizations

For her part, another Sudanese refugee in Egypt, Amal Saleh Abu Al-Bashir, told Reuters TV that she has five children, the two oldest of whom work in a factory with their father to help with the family’s expenses. to cover

Amal explains that she is trying to enroll her children in schools, but financial problems prevent them from enrolling in Sudanese schools. In addition, the lack of a UNHCR asylum seeker registration card, also known as a “yellow card”, represents an obstacle to registration in Egyptian public schools.

Amal told Reuters TV, “They say they want a valid residence permit so that children can enter schools.

She said, “I contacted many organizations, and they told me that we will contact you, and I waited without an answer.

Barriers to enrolling Sudanese refugee children in Egyptian schools

Sabaa Al-Mathani School in Giza works to address these problems faced by the Sudanese refugee community in Egypt.

Moataz Ali Saad Ali, the director of the school, explains that he works to support Sudanese students to continue their education.

Ali told Reuters TV, “Sabaa Al-Mathani School is supportive of Sudanese education, and the day they cannot pay the fees, we will cooperate. “money he pays.”

Fayza Hassan Ibrahim Suleiman, a Sudanese refugee in Egypt, said, “The problems we face are, of course, that schools are expensive, but they are not close to a refugee who has lost all job opportunities and his economic conditions tired He is suffering, and we have several children.” Thank God, I have four children whose expenses I want to register.”

She told Reuters TV, “I would prefer Sudanese schools so that they don’t have problems with the Sudanese curriculum when I return to Sudan and my children return to Sudanese schools.”

The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has forced nearly 10 million people to flee their homes and prompted warnings of famine and waves of ethnic violence largely blamed on the Aid Forces. Fast.

According to a press release issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on August 22, 2024, “Sudan’s 2024 Regional Refugee Response Plan calls for $109 million to meet the education needs of refugees across the region so far, 20 percent has been just of this amount, $4.3 million is equal to just 40 percent of what is needed for Egypt.

The UNHCR reports that the number of Sudanese refugees registered with it in August reached 469,664 refugees.