Sudan: A Nation in Turmoil - Is Eduaction to Blame?

This book analyzes the national basic school curriculum of Sudan and its implications on national social cohesion. The study seeks to investigate the themes that appear in basic schools‘ curriculum in Sudan. By studying the themes and representations, the research aims to investigate the degree to which the curriculum fosters tolerance, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence or perpetuates violence and division. Ultimately, the research attempts to investigate the role of the education system in promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence between different ethnic groups in Sudan. For this purpose, the research employed two methodological approaches: thematic analysis of textbooks and qualitative interviews. The study findings reveal that Sudan‘s national school curriculum is shaped by the prevailing political climate. Education in Sudan denies significant sections of the population their identity and culture, as young minds are indoctrinated in the dominant culture reflected in the education system. It also deprives them of their freedom to belong to a culture of their own choice. In the process, education has become an effective tool to polarize the Sudanese society. Education has therefore been used as a tool of alienation and thereby further polarizing a nation already bleeding from war. In the end, education is turned into a catalyst for conflict rather than an agent for cohesion.