Sahra, a Sudanese educator who specialized in education administration, fled West Darfur in April 2023 following the outbreak of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. Like nearly one million other Sudanese refugees, she crossed into Chad, which has become one of Africa’s largest refugee-hosting nations. In eastern Chad, humanitarian organizations established educational facilities to serve the displaced population, many of whom arrived to find few services or infrastructure.
In 2024, Plan International and partner organizations opened a primary school in a refugee camp that now educates 1,059 pupils with 30 teachers drawn from the refugee community itself. Sahra serves as head teacher at the facility, which operates two shifts daily to accommodate enrollment. The school teaches mathematics, science, history, geography, Arabic, and French. However, Sudanese educators have faced challenges adapting to Chad’s curriculum while navigating language differences between Chadian children who speak local dialects and Sudanese pupils who predominantly speak Arabic.
The school operates under significant constraints. Facilities lack flush toilets, electricity, and accommodations for children with disabilities, with students sitting on the ground or sharing benches. Despite these limitations, the institution provides not only academic instruction but also safety and protection for vulnerable children. Plan International additionally operates early childhood programs offering psychosocial support in the absence of formal kindergartens. Initial tensions between Sudanese and Chadian students have largely resolved, with children now learning and playing together.
Challenges remain substantial. Hundreds of unaccompanied children orphaned during displacement remain out of school, while resource constraints force many families to keep only some children in classrooms while others work or collect resources. High school and vocational training opportunities are absent, causing older teenagers to drop out. The 2026 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan received only 17 percent of required funding, with education remaining among the least supported sectors.
Educators and parents are advocating for basic improvements including solar panels, mobile health clinics, school meals, and adequate desks. Chadian officials view the presence of Sudanese teachers as beneficial for cultural exchange and regional solidarity, while humanitarian workers emphasize that refugees bring valuable skills and leadership capacity to their host communities.
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