The tempestuous weather in Sudan often forces teachers and students to improvise when it comes to school. At the Nurul Islam Girls school, after a windstorm blew down their classroom a few weeks ago, students and teachers had no choice but to continue lessons in a makeshift outdoor classroom despite the 40 degree (104 Fahrenheit) heat. This wasn’t the first time that the weather had forced teachers and students to have class outside.
When Nurul Islam Girls school opened its doors in 2008, it had 63 students and one first grade classroom made with bamboo. The school has now expanded to become a complete primary school, with eight grades and 453 students. However, the classrooms scattered throughout the school grounds are made of the same woven bamboo as the first classroom.
The cost of rebuilding classrooms is high for the community
“Every year we have to rebuild two or three of the classrooms,” says PTA chairperson Mohamad Saad El Noor. “That is an extra 2,000-3,000 SDG (US$315 - $475) we have to pass on to parents. It’s a lot of money, when you add it to everything else they have to pay.”
It is with this problem in mind that three years ago, Mohamad and the other members of the PTA decided that they would build two classrooms with bricks. They started by mobilizing funds and resources locally before starting to build.
“We asked people in the market and others who could afford to give some money,” he says.
It seemed like it would be easy enough at the time, but three years later, the half-finished classrooms have weathered several rainy seasons and look more like they are in the process of falling down than going up.
GPE funding is helping improve the learning environment
In 2013, Sudan received a GPE grant of US$76.5 million to assist in implementing its Interim Basic Education Strategy. The grant supports improving the learning environment in targeted areas, increasing textbook availability, and strengthening education planning and management mechanisms.
One of the main components of the grant is to empower communities by providing school construction management training. GPE funding will support schools like this one to build more solid classrooms. As of September 2016, 470 classrooms have been built through community empowerment.
Hopefully, with GPE’s help the Nurul Islam Girls school and others like it will soon be able to continue teaching and learning without having to worry about the weather.