The 2019 transitional constitution of Sudan guarantees freedom of religion and omits reference to sharia as a source of law, unlike the 2005 constitution of Sudan's deposed president Omar al-Bashir whose government had criminalized apostasy and blasphemy against Islam. Bashir's government had also targeted Shia Muslims and those engaging in proselytization to faiths other than Islam. Christians had also faced restrictions in matters of religious freedom.
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereignty and administration were shared between both Egypt and the United Kingdom, but in practice the structure of the condominium ensured effective British control over Sudan, with Egypt having limited local power and influence. In the meantime, Egypt itself fell under increasing British influence. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Egypt pushed for an end to the condominium, and the independence of Sudan. By agreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1953, Sudan was granted independence as the Republic of the Sudan on 1 January 1956. In 2011, the south of Sudan itself became independent as the Republic of South Sudan.
The University of Khartoum is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independence. Since that date, the University of Khartoum has been recognized as a top university and a high-ranked academic institution in Sudan and Africa.
The historyofAnglo-Egyptian Sudan refers to the history of Sudan from 1899 to 1955.
Education in Sudan is free and/or compulsory for children aged 6 to 13 years. Primary education up to the 2019/2020 academic year consists of eight years, followed by three years of secondary education. The primary/secondary educational ladder of 6+3+3 years was switched in 1965 and during the Omar al-Bashir presidency to 8+3 and is scheduled, during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, to return to 6+3+3 in the 2020/2021 academic year. The primary language at all levels is Arabic. Starting in the 2020/2021 academic year, English is to be taught starting at kindergarten. Schools are concentrated in urban areas; many in the South and West were damaged or destroyed by years of civil war. In 2001 the World Bank estimated that primary enrolment was 46 percent of eligible pupils and 21 percent of secondary students. Enrolment varies widely, falling below 20 percent in some provinces. Sudan has 36 government universities and 19 private universities, in which instruction is primarily in Arabic.
The dominant religion in Sudan is Islam practiced by around 90.7% of the nation's population. Christianity is the largest minority faith in country accounting for around 5.4% of the population. A substantial population of the adherents of traditional faiths is also present.
Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim, was a Sudanese writer, women's rights activist and socialist leader.
Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was a Welsh Anglican bishop and missionary. He was the first Anglican Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, serving from 1920 to 1946.
Protestants are about 2,009,374 in Sudan. They are forbidden to proselytize. The law makes apostasy punishable by death. The southern ethnic groups fighting the civil war largely are followers of traditional indigenous religions or Christians.
The Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case concerns the 2007 arrest, trial, conviction, imprisonment, and subsequent release of British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, who taught children of middle-class Muslim and Christian families at Unity High School in Khartoum, Sudan. She was convicted of insulting Islam by allowing her class of six-year-olds to name a teddy bear "Muhammad".
Abdel Halim Mohamed Abdel Halim was a Sudanese physician, writer, political activist, civil servant, and sports administrator who received national and international accolades for his work. He was born into a family of scholars, writers and politicians: his grandfather was a Mahdist prince and military leader. Abdel Halim became a doctor, graduating from Kitchener School of Medicine and training in Khartoum and London. Due to his contributions, he is remembered as the "Father of medicine in Sudan". He was among the first Sudanese to become a senior physician and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Khartoum, Sudan.
Sudan has a native Coptic minority, although many Copts in Sudan are descended from more recent Coptic immigrants from Egypt. Copts in Sudan live mostly in northern cities, including Al Obeid, Atbara, Dongola, Khartoum, Omdurman, Port Sudan, and Wad Medani. They number between 400,000-500,000, or slightly over 1% of the Sudanese population. Due to their advanced education, their role in the life of the country has been more significant than their numbers suggest.
Almorada is an ancient district in Omdurman city, Khartoum State, Sudan. Almorada neighborhood is one of the most prestigious districts in the Eastern part of Omdurman city.
Khalida Zahir, also spelled Khalda Zahir, was one of the first female Sudanese doctors and women's rights activist.
The Sudanese Women's Union is a Sudanese women's rights organisation that is one of the biggest post-independence women's rights organisations in Africa.
Fatima Talib is a Sudanese educator and women's rights activist who convened the first women-only organisation in Sudan.
Khalda Saber is a Sudanese teacher and an activist who worked with a local NGO on women's rights issues. She was one of the women who led protest against the 30 years rule of President Omar al-Bashir which led to military takeover of the government. Saber encouraged fellow teachers and women she met on the streets in the city of Port Sudan while walking to the school where she taught to join the pro-democracy uprising. “I was telling them that there is nothing to lose, compared with what we have already lost. I was telling them that we have to take to the streets, demonstrate and express our rejection to what's happening,”.
Khartoum is the main location for most of Sudan's top educational bodies. There are four main levels of education:
- Kindergarten and day-care. It begins in the age of 3–4, consists of 1-2 grades,.
- Elementary school. The first grade pupils enter at the age of 6–7. It consists of 8 grades, each year there is more academic efforts and main subjects added plus more school methods improvements. By the 8th grade a student is 13–14 years old ready to take the certificate exams and entering high school.
- Upper second school and high school. At this level the school methods add some main academic subjects such as chemistry, biology, physics, and geography. There are three grades in this level. The students' ages are about 14–15 to 17–18.
- Higher education. There are many universities in Sudan such as the university of Khartoum. Some foreigners attend universities there, as the reputation of the universities are very good and the living expenses are low compared to other countries.
The College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum is the only public art school in Sudan. Its predecessor was founded by the British administration in 1945 as School of Design in the former Gordon Memorial College. In 1951, it was incorporated into the Khartoum Technical Institute that became the Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST) in 1971, and the school was renamed College of Fine and Applied Art.
