The Development of Catholic Schools in the Republic of Sudan

Sudan is today a country self-defined as Islamic (97% of the population) and Arab. In this context the schools of the Catholic Church have played and play a relevant role in the instruction of the elites of the country and in the provision of education to the displaced and refugee communities (3.58 million persons of concern of UNHCR in 2016). This article studies the development of these schools and their change of role along the following historical periods: the part of the Turco-Egyptian rule that corresponds with the foundation of the first Catholic Schools and the work of the great promotor of education in Sudan, Daniel Comboni (1843-1881); the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium which meant their expansion (1898-1956); and the Independent Sudan where they mainly focused on the service to displaced and refugees (1956-2017). The article describes this evolution and the current situation based upon the revision of published bibliography and unpublished materials from the archives of the Education Office of the Archdiocese of Khartoum and of the Comboni Missionaries in Sudan, especially for the most recent periods.