Adré, April 20 (Darfur24)
Frustration is mounting among Sudanese students and their families in eastern Chad after the Sudanese consulate in Abéché made refugee registration a condition for sitting the alternative Sudanese Secondary School Certificate exams scheduled for May.
The decision threatens to exclude more than 5,000 registered students, particularly those in Adré camp and recent arrivals from Darfur who have yet to obtain official refugee documentation.
The situation has been further complicated by delays from the UN refugee agency, which has not processed registration requests despite receiving complete student lists from the relevant state committee over a month ago.
A student from Nyala told Darfur24 that many had continued their studies under extremely difficult security conditions, hoping to sit for the exams, only to face what he described as an “impossible” requirement.
“Preventing us from sitting for exams means losing our educational future for reasons completely beyond our control,” he said.
Parents have called for urgent intervention by the Sudanese authorities, urging the consulate and the Ministry of Education to take into account the exceptional circumstances facing students. They proposed that the lists prepared by the state committee be accepted as a temporary alternative until formal registration is completed.
They also called for the immediate cancellation of the requirement, warning that maintaining it would deny thousands of students their right to education and jeopardize their academic future.