The Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nour, issued directives preventing students in areas under its control from singing the Sudanese national anthem inside schools. It also ordered the Sudanese flag to be taken down from the masts of educational institutions and replaced with the movement’s slogan.
Sources reported that primary, middle and secondary school students used to start the school day by singing the national anthem during morning assembly, but the new instructions stopped this practice in all schools located within the movement’s areas of influence.
A number of school principals in those areas said that they had received direct instructions stating that it was not allowed to sing the national anthem during the morning assembly, which sparked a state of controversy and concern among students and parents alike.
Directors explained that the decision also included removing the Sudanese flag from school poles, and replacing it with a banner bearing the slogan of the Sudan Liberation Movement, in a step described as unprecedented in the educational sector in those areas.
Last October, the movement's civil authority announced the resumption of the educational process in the areas under its control in the states of Central and North Darfur, after a period of cessation.
In this context, one of the school principals in the city of Tawila said that the decision to ban the singing of the flag anthem and the national anthem came after a field tour carried out by a delegation of the movement’s leaders to schools in displaced communities during December of last year, where the delegation directed school administrations and teachers to adhere to the new instructions, including requiring students to chant the movement’s anthem and raise its flag inside the schools.
The Sudan Liberation Movement imposes its control over the Jebel Marra region, which extends across large areas of the states of South and Central Darfur, in addition to Tawila locality in the state of North Darfur.
