After five years without school, a 14-year-old girl in a Sudan displacement camp is back in class

“Five years,” says 14-year-old Hiba, describing how long she was out of school. Now she is back in a classroom at a learning centre in a camp for displaced families in Kosti, White Nile State, UNICEF Sudan said on 29 October.

A school closed, then a war

Hiba was in fourth grade in West Kordofan when insecurity forced her school to close, about two years before the war that began in April 2023. She kept learning to read and write at a local khalwa, a Quranic school. When fighting intensified last year, she fled with her mother and four younger sisters to Kosti.

“I never thought I would be able to go back to school.” — Hiba, 14

Catching up at a faster pace

About three months ago, an Accelerated Learning Programme centre opened in Goz El Salam camp. It follows the formal curriculum at a faster pace so that children who have missed years of school can return to the formal system. UNICEF runs it in coordination with the White Nile State Ministry of Education. The centre also offers psychosocial support sessions, which Hiba says are her favourite part.

Eight million children out of school

Hiba's story is one of millions. Nearly 8 million school-age children in Sudan were estimated to be out of school at the start of 2026, according to UNICEF. In White Nile State alone, more than 355,000 of roughly 1 million school-age children were out of school.

“I thought that was it,” Hiba says of the years without school. Today she has a goal: “I want to work for UNICEF.” UNICEF did not say how many children attend the centre in Goz El Salam or how many similar centres it runs in White Nile State. More stories on learning are collected under education.