This year, the Sudanese social affairs office advised that those students from poor families who used to get support from the Sudanese office will not get it this year unless they quit Wad Sherifey School and join government schools. As a result, only 11 children opted to withdraw from Wad-Sherifey and go to government schools.
It is to be recalled that the Wad-Sherifey School is the largest recipient of school children in the township of Wad-Sherifey. The largest government school in the township has 250 students. Most Eritrean refugee families prefer Wad-Sherifey Refugee School because it uses an Eritrean curriculum that was adopted since the opening of the school in 1984 by the Eritrean Red Cross-Crescent Society, which is still in charge of its administration.
The table below gives a list of pupils registered this season in their respective classes.
Breakdown of registered students for 2014-2015 academic year
|
Class |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
1st Grade “A” |
44 |
22 |
66 |
|
1st Grade "B" |
31 |
19 |
50 |
|
2nd Grade “A” |
34 |
25 |
59 |
|
2nd Grade “B” |
28 |
29 |
57 |
|
3rd Grade “A” |
40 |
22 |
62 |
|
3rd Grade “B” |
37 |
26 |
63 |
|
4th Grade “A” |
23 |
16 |
39 |
|
4th Grade “B” |
27 |
20 |
47 |
|
Grade 5 |
45 |
28 |
73 |
|
Grade 6 |
40 |
40 |
80 |
|
Grade 7 |
19 |
17 |
36 |
|
Grade 8 |
17 |
17 |
34 |
|
Grand Total |
385 |
281 |
666 |
As shown in the above table, students in each class of grade 5 and 6 are too many to be in one class. It is difficult to handle up to 80 students in one class, but the school is forced to keep things in this situation because of budget limitations.
The school administration takes this occasion to appeal to Eritreans and their friends to extend a helping hand to this worth school now in its 31st year in the Sudan, only 8 kilometres from the Eritrea-Sudan border. We also extend our profound gratitude to our usual supporters, on top of the Geneva-based ASEE, Association Suisse Enfance-Erythrée.
