Universities seek independence in phase two of revolution

A plan for educational reform written by teaching staff at Sudan’s oldest and largest public university, the University of Khartoum, calls for Sudan’s universities to be made independent of the central government’s control, writes Edward Fox for Al-Fanar Media.

Along with such formal calls for reform, students and professors say they now have more academic and personal freedom on Sudanese campuses, because government loyalists no longer dominate academic administration and student unions.

The formal proposal for educational reform is part of a programme for comprehensive restructuring in Sudan published by the University of Khartoum Teaching Staff Initiative, a group of academics that formed in December 2018, in the first days of the popular movement in Sudan that led to the removal of the government of Omar al-Bashir. The policy proposals published by the group cover a wide range of issues, including economic reform, energy and mining, infrastructure (encompassing water, irrigation, roads, construction and information technology), encouraging outside investment, and education, including higher education.
Full report on the Al-Fanar Media site