From Sudanese refugee to school principal in a Chad camp

Adre, Chad – Sahra remembers her childhood in el-Geneina, the capital of Sudan’s West Darfur state, where she was always determined to outperform the boys in her class. After passing her national exams in 2005 and 2006, she chose a career in teaching, volunteering in classrooms while studying education management at university.

In April 2023, war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shattered the life she had built. The conflict has displaced millions of Sudanese. Chad, which shares a long border with Sudan to the east, has taken in huge numbers of refugees.

Sahra is now one of nearly one million Sudanese refugees who crossed into Chad, making it one of Africa’s largest refugee-hosting countries. Thousands of families arriving in eastern Chad found only bare land and trees for shelter. Many children had no school to attend.

In 2024, Plan International and partner organizations set up a primary school in the refugee camp. The school now has 1,059 students and 30 teachers, with Sahra as principal. Teachers, administrators, and child welfare staff are recruited from the refugee community, giving those who fled Sudan a chance to support families in similar circumstances.

Leading from the front lines

Chad was already grappling with a severe education crisis before the new wave of Sudanese refugees. More than two million young people are illiterate; according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), three-quarters of students nationwide are taught by people with only a secondary education. The refugee influx has added further strain to an education system short of classrooms, teachers, and basic facilities.

“Illiteracy is dangerous,” Sahra says. “I want the children to be optimistic about the future, because education protects them from early marriage and violence.”

To accommodate the numbers, the school runs two shifts: one in the morning and one in the evening. Subjects include mathematics, science, history, geography, Arabic, and French.

But teaching in exile brings its own challenges. Sudanese teachers must adapt to Chad’s curriculum while navigating language differences: Chadian children speak local languages, while many Sudanese students speak Arabic.

“The curriculum in Sudan is easy; in Chad it is difficult for us,” says Oummalnas, a mathematics and Arabic teacher who left el-Geneina in 2024. “We need more training sessions to improve our teaching skills and adapt to Chad’s education system.”

Protection beyond the classroom

Initially, there were occasional clashes between Sudanese and Chadian children, but tensions have eased over time. Now they study and play together after class. Plan International has also set up safe spaces for children under five to play, interact, and receive psychological support in the absence of formal kindergartens.

“We don’t separate education from child protection. It’s a holistic approach that helps promote harmony,” says Kefa Mayange, Plan’s emergency response manager in Chad.

For parents in the camp, the school is both a safe haven and a place of learning. Charfadine, a parent, arrived with his family during heavy rains in 2023. Previously, his children in West Darfur attended school regularly until the conflict forced them to flee. Three of his children now attend the primary school in Chad.

“We are happy that our children go to school here because it is a safe place that protects them from violence by criminal groups,” he told Al Jazeera, adding hope tied to home: “My dream is for my children to become teachers to educate the future generation in Sudan, and to become doctors who heal.”

However, not every child is in class. Nasradine, another parent, says many children orphaned while fleeing Darfur remain out of school and wandering the camp. “If these children don’t go to school, our camp will be in danger. They could fall into crime and make our home unsafe. We just want help so these children can get an education.”

Struggling with scarcity

For mothers like Roukhaya and Zenab, memories of the flight from el-Geneina remain vivid. They walked about ten hours to reach the Chadian border. Still, both say life in Sudan, even at war, was more comfortable than in the camp.

Roukhaya’s children attend school in Chad for the first time. But she has watched older teenagers drop out because there are no secondary schools or vocational training opportunities. Getting her younger children to class is also a daily struggle.

Azraa, a supervisor with Plan International’s mobile unit, and her colleagues go tent to tent encouraging parents to keep children enrolled. In families with six or seven children, parents may send only two or three to school; the others stay home to collect firewood, fetch water, or look for odd jobs.

Every Friday, community centers hold awareness-raising sessions, reminding families that education remains important even in exile. These efforts unfold amid a severe resource shortage. Kefa says the refugee response in eastern Chad remains among the most underfunded in the world.

Children make up more than half of the refugee population, but the 2026 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan has received only 17% of the funding needed — a gap of 83%. Education is one of the least supported sectors.

At Sahra’s school, shortages are visible daily: no flushing toilets, no electricity, no facilities for children with disabilities. Students sit close together on the floor or share benches. Teachers and parents are calling for basic improvements: solar panels for lighting, mobile clinics, school meals, and enough desks and chairs.

Abakar Mahamat Nour, education officer at the Economic and Social Development Agency (ADES), a Chadian NGO supporting education and emergency relief, sees the arrival of Sudanese teachers as a chance for cross-border unity. “Chad and Sudan are like brothers; we share families. Having people like Sahra come from Sudan to teach our children is beneficial for the country. They give our students new cultural perspectives and build friendships.”

Sahra lost the life she had built as a teacher and education administrator in West Darfur. In exile, she has found her calling again: teaching children. “Refugees have skills, experience, and dreams,” says Kefa Mayange. “Like Sahra, we see them as leaders.”

Note: Full names have been withheld to ensure safety and privacy.