South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan’s White Nile State are facing challenges in primary and secondary schools within Rabak town, an education official said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, the head of Israr Secondary School, Ajak Obunan Padit said many students fail to complete school due to lack of tuition and housing fees as their families stay far from school.

Most students, he explained, rely on manual work to pay their tuition fees, meaning they leave school to engage in casual work, which negatively impacts on academic performance, while others drop out.

According to Ajak, at least 36 out of the 3,000 students in primary and secondary school left school in the middle of this academic year.

“Failure of students to pay tuition fees has negatively impacted on the administration of the school and the payment of teachers' salaries,” he added, citing the low numbers of girls in these schools.

A secondary school student, he said, pays 2,000 Sudanese Pounds as tuition fees, while a basic school pupil pays between 650 and 1,000 Sudanese Pounds.

Ajak appealed to non-governmental organizations to intervene and support education for South Sudanese students in White Nile State.

There are currently three primary and secondary schools managed by South Sudanese who fled to Rabak town. These schools use the Sudanese syllabuses, which are translated from Arabic to English.