A decree from Mohamed Hassan al-Ta'aishi names new heads for the universities of Nyala, El Fasher, Zalingei, Al-Salam, El Geneina and Ed Daein. The Government of Peace and Unity says the move is part of a plan to complete the state's educational institutions.
The prime minister of the Tasis-led Government of Peace and Unity, Mohamed Hassan al-Ta'aishi, has issued Decree No. 40 appointing directors to six public universities in Darfur. The Tasis government's media office announced the decree on 3 November through Tasis News. The media office said the appointments were part of the government's plan to "complete the state's educational institutions" (CERHA translation from Arabic). The decree directs all state bodies to implement it from the date of issue.
According to the decree, Professor Abdul Ghani Abu al-Qasim Adam Rijal becomes director of the University of Nyala and Professor Adam Hassan Adam al-Hajj director of the University of El Fasher. Dr Awad Allah Ibrahim al-Douma is appointed to the University of Zalingei and Dr Al-Bashir Abdullah al-Bashir al-Nadhif to Al-Salam University. Dr Fadl Allah Hamdan Abkar Qadim takes the University of El Geneina and Dr Al-Sadiq Abdullah Adam Juma the University of Ed Daein. The appointments were also reported by Darfur24, which said it had seen the order, and by Madania News and Ain Elhagega.
Rebuilding institutions
Darfur24 said the appointments came as community groups and local authorities in several Darfur states try to rehabilitate university buildings damaged in the war and restart teaching. In June, the Tasis authorities organised Sudanese Certificate secondary-school examinations in areas under their control and announced the results.
The decree is part of a wider effort by the Government of Peace and Unity to set up civilian administration in Darfur and parts of Kordofan. In recent days it has dissolved wartime civil administrations in four Darfur states and West Kordofan. It has also reopened the El Fasher children's hospital and the North Darfur police headquarters, and ordered a one-week handover of state assets.
Darfur24 noted concerns that Sudan's split between rival administrations could extend to higher education, including the recognition of academic certificates and qualifications. The army-aligned government in Port Sudan does not recognise the Tasis administration. In the reports reviewed by CERHA, its Ministry of Higher Education had not commented on the decree. How degrees awarded under the new university leadership will be treated by institutions and employers elsewhere in Sudan and abroad remains an open question.
Image: The College of Engineering Sciences, the central library and the mosque at the University of Nyala, 2020. Wlyeldeen Abkar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.