Sudan Army Chief dissolves boards of trustees of 30 universities

The head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Army leader, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, issued a decision, on Tuesday, to dissolve the boards of trustees of Sudanese universities, Anadolu News Agency reported.

“Lieutenant-General Abdul-Fattah Al-Burhan has decided to dissolve the boards of trustees and appointed new heads for some 30 national universities,” a statement issued by the council said.

Sovereign Council spokesperson, Salma Abdul-Jabbar Al-Mubarak, explained in a separate statement that the decision will be reviewed during the second half of the 2022 budget.

She said the decision came after extensive deliberation between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and university professors under the supervision of the Sovereign Council.

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Observers believe the decision to dissolve the universities’ board of trustees is related to the suspension of studies in a number of universities in the country.

Since last November 6, the Councils of the Deans of the universities of Khartoum, Kordofan, Red Sea, Gezira and Sudan for Science and Technology and Nile have decided to indefinitely suspend studies in protest of the security forces’ attacks on male and female students, and to preserve their safety in light of the turmoil in the country.

There are 31 public universities in Sudan, spread over 31 states.