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International journal of Science Commerce and Humanities Volume No 2 No 2 February 2014
161
Informationization of Education and Teacher Professional Development in
Sudan: Challenges and Policy Issues
Elsunni, Hesham Abdelwaheda,b
Yang Xiaohongb
Instructional Technology Dep., Faculty of Education, University of Khartoum, Sudana .
Educational Technology College, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou- Chinab.
Phone Number: +86 13919014142
Address: “China, Gansu province, Lanzhou- Anning- Anning East Road – Northwest Normal University –-
Educational Technology college- (730070).
ABSTRACT
Informationization of education has become one of the most actively promoted models in educational
policies, and teacher professional development has been regarded as one of the key factors that help in
achieving quality of education, which has to be updated from traditional method to advanced model, especially
in less developed or developing countries where a large number of teachers do not have any teacher education
and they cannot draw on technology in their teaching and learning. Education institutions in these areas are
still dependent on the traditional methods in teacher preparation. The study analyzed the current situation of
informationization of education in Sudan and the challenges that face teacher professional development to shift
teachers role and help them get ready for the digital age learners, regarding that the community has been
affected by new information technology and become e-community. The study explored some policy issues which
have lead to negative effect on the educational system to integrate information technology in education, and
finally the study concluded some points which might contribute to reform.
Keywords: Informationization of Education, Teacher Professional Development, Digital Age Learners, Sudan.
INTRODUCTION
Education has a fundamental role to play in personal, social, economic and political development. On the
one hand education is an ongoing process of improving knowledge and skills and it is also a means of bringing
about personal development and positive relationships among individuals, groups and nations which can reduce
power and wealth disparities among countries. A government needs powerful policies for education and
measures to implement them, in that education itself cannot be a magical cure or magic sound formula to open
the door to a world in which all idea will be acquired. It is highly impossible to address or achieve all these
issues as well as maintaining the quality of education with modern information technology without considerable
teacher professional development.
As information and communication technology (ICT) advances rapidly, the global society is becoming
increasingly information-oriented, every country is making informationization policy one of the highest
priorities on its agenda, and informationization of education is one of the most actively promoted educational
International journal of Science Commerce and Humanities Volume No 2 No 2 February 2014
162
policies. Promoting the educational modernization by the educational informationization and changing
traditional education pattern by information technology have become the inevitable trend of education
development (Jiaguo and Jie. 2011).
Since 1999, the Sudanese national ICT strategy was formulated and a high-level ministerial committee
was formed to oversee its implementation. The strategy focuses on five major areas: technology (infrastructure),
human resource development, software industry development, content (Arabic reservoir), and geo-information.
Based on the knowledge and recognition of the importance of public-private partnerships in enhancing any
development process, the Sudanese government is constantly seeking partners to implement the national
strategy, including e-government projects, the development of an electronic smart city, distance learning, and
telemedicine.
The General Ministry of Education Information Centre is the entity responsible for the development of a
strong ICT infrastructure. The national policy encourages the use of ICT in developing local policies to ensure
the complete integration of ICT in education and training on all levels, including the development of school
curricula, teacher training, managing and organizing educational institutions, and support the idea of lifelong
learning by designing ICT training programs to satisfy the educational needs of employees working in the fields.
In the early 20s, the federal ministry of education adopted a new policy for in-service training for
teachers through open learning. This was a kind of cooperation with Open University of Sudan which has many
teacher training centers in different states of the country. The Open University organizes short courses during
summer vacations also, and it broadcasts lectures on radio and distributes recorded lectures on tapes for
teachers. This policy has contributed much to bridging the gap in training opportunities between teachers at
cities, towns and those in rural areas. But still there is no use for e-learning techniques or online learning
whether is synchronous or asynchronous learning in teacher training, because of the lack of physical
infrastructure and some other challenges facing educational institutions and teacher training centers.
Alhassan, (2011) searched the impacts of electronic learning techniques on staff performance in
Sudanese universities in Khartoum State, and his study concluded that, The extent of the role of e-Learning 2.0
techniques can play in developing the performance of the university staff if it had the best use, by making the
educational practice is working as a system, by standardization of methods and procedures of university
teaching with ways to use e-learning techniques interactive and designs instructional. however, the absence of
clear strategies for universities to apply e-learning techniques in teaching and learning is one of the biggest
challenges that face educator education, which means these we need future plans for universities and schools to
face the challenges that related to the professional development of teachers and help them to make best use of
information technology in their teaching and for individual learning.
Teacher professional development in Sudan needs to be updated to new models from 21century revolution
in technology, education, and economy, and it needs a new policy to deal with all the challenges that will face
and make best use of information technology in education to realize informationization.
METHOD AND MATERIALS
What the method has been used in this study is analytical approach, which analyzed the current situation of
the education informationization and teacher professional development in Sudan. The materials what this study
is based on is from different studies, reports, and country plans; and it aims to answer the following two
questions:
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a) What outcomes produced when the informationization of education was structured in Sudan?
b) What are the challenges and issues happened when the teacher professional development applies modern
information technology in education?
Hamdy (2007) presented the country strategies for ICT and education, provided information from the
ministry of education, including the statistics about what has been done by educational institutions and how
long they go in this way to apply the information technology in education. The Table 1 provides a quantitative
perspective of some selected system indicators.
Table 1: Selected Education Data
Institution Total
Public schools 11,752
Private schools 1,035
Technical schools 81
Others 5,808
Number of school students for all
levels
4.6 million
Public universities/higher
institutions
27
Private universities/higher
institutions
47
Technical 6
Number of university students 446,998
Public schools with computer labs 4,363
Private schools with computer
labs
647
Technical schools with computer
labs
20
Schools with Internet connection 20
Public universities with computer
labs
27
Private universities with computer
labs
47
Public universities with Internet
connection
20
Private universities with Internet
connection
47
The 5,808 other informal educational institutes, such as religious institutes, youth centers, national industries,
and professional training institutes, are not under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. However, their
high-achieving graduates are offered a chance to join a number of universities and higher institutes.
Table 2 summarizes the current and recent ICT initiatives and projects in Sudan.
International journal of Science Commerce and Humanities Volume No 2 No 2 February 2014
164
Table 2: ICT Initiatives and Projects
Programmed Description
Computers in educational
institutes
The Ministry of Education has started providing
schools and teachers’ institutes with computers. An
order to import 10,000 or more computers has been
placed to provide the rest of the educational
institutions with computers. There is an initiative for
developing an educational management information
system.
Partners/donors: Ministry of Education in
collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF
Khartoum.
The development of an ICT
System
The system will connect schools, process of exam
corrections, and display the grades of the Sudanese
Certificate on-line.
EMIS Project This project will connect school localities and states
on the national level. The project will start in 2007
after signing the agreement.
Partners/donors: Collaboration between UNICEF,
EU, and the Education Planning Directorate.
Open University of Sudan
Development
Providing distance learning program to improve the
methodology and subject knowledge of teachers
working at primary and secondary schools
throughout the country.
Reconstruction of basic
education in Sudan
In 2005 UNESCO contributed its technical expertise
to the preparation of a program for the
reconstruction and development of basic education
in Sudan. Partners/donors: UNESCO
Multi-purpose Community
learning centers (MCLCs)
MCLCs are local centers that provide lifelong
learning opportunities to empower local
communities in villages, slums, and poor urban
areas. MCLCs provide education combined with
skills and training for income-generating activities
leading to improve the quality of life of poor people.
Partners/donors: UNESCO
Focusing Resources for
Effective School Health
(FRESH)
This is a project to assess health education and
HIV/AIDS prevention education in schools of the
Arab world. The goal is to develop a common plan
of action that will help address existing needs,
particularly in the areas of information-sharing and
training.
Center of Learning This is an initiative for developing the learning
resources through the national commission for
UNESCO in Sudan. The infrastructure is being
developed through the efforts of the government to
get loans and assistance from NGOs.
Source: Hamdy, (2007).
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165
According to the presidential decree the federal ministry of education is responsible for education planning
and formulation of policies and is in coordination with educational authorities at both federal and state level; in
addition, the decree pointed the teacher professional development includes preparation and development of
curricula, literacy, adults and special education. In 2007 the federal ministry of education started to take actions
to reform in teacher professional development part of the country with 5 years strategic plan. Again, due to the
lack of the financial resources, the plan was not implemented well. In spite of these efforts paid by the
ministries of education, yet much more effort will be to promote teacher professional development. According
to the federal ministry of education the total number of teachers in Sudan are (142,041), but of which only
(65%) are trained, still (35%) of are untrained.
The following table 3 shows the new plan for reform in teacher training in Sudan:
Table 3: plan for reform in teacher training in Sudan.
Source: Federal Ministry of General Education (2008). 5-Year Strategic Plan 2007-2011.
Project Goals Activities Indicators of
performance
measurement
Executiv
e
organizat
ions
Sponsor
organizatio
ns
Date of
execution
Cost in SD Financed
organizations
Fro
m
To
Human
capacity
building
and
instituti
ons
To
expand
rehabilita
tion in
teacher
educatio
n and
training
To
rehabilitate
(70)
institutions
1- Number
of teachers to
be trained
every year
2- To look
into the
reports of
qualified
teachers
Training
departme
nts +
Colleges
and
institutes
of
educatio
n
Ministry of
general
education
2007 2011 545.330.000 Foreign +
governmenta
l
To
establish
(50) new
institutions
2007 2011 1.333.310.00
0
Foreign +
governmenta
l
To
evaluate
the
experience
of distance
education
2007 2011 4.600.000 Foreign +
governmenta
l
To
evaluate
the current
ways of
training
2007 2011 1.345.500.00
0
Foreign +
governmenta
l
To
rehabilitate
and train
(99000)
teachers
2007 2011 134.550.000 Foreign +
Government
al
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166
DISCUSSIONS
Informationization of Education, which refers to setting up a digital, intelligentized and networking
platform based on modern information technology, is the process of promoting the development and reform of
education with modern information technology deeply being used in educational domain (Jiaguo and Jie. 2011).
Therefore, the Sudanese government established the National Telecommunications Commission, the National
Information Center, and prepared a complete strategy to make use of information technology in education and
other different areas. But this strategy was based on several themes, and the most important of which was the
establishment of the institutional, legislative, and regulatory framework which would achieve an open and
transparent structure so as to enhance competition, innovation, skills, capacity building, and develop human
resources that are capable of responding and interacting with the requirements of the informatics age. This
would be achieved through continued education, training and developing the infrastructures necessary to create
information networks that guarantee easy access which through a free competitive market use modern
technology with its services and applications.
A sector of information technology is particularly important, which focused on many plans and national
projects to develop infrastructure, but the technology policies and strategies of Information will find that the
plans and strategies have been developed and incorporated into different areas, except for education which is a
slower response areas for the integration of information technology. Although the government has made plans
and strategies for use ICT in education, too many factors weren’t considered in these strategies. There are
17000 schools and more than 80 high education institutions, 4.6 million students in total, they have just been
distributed 10,000 computers and only twenty schools have internet connections. The true fact is that (35%) of
teachers are untrained, and most of them cannot use any kind of technologies in teaching and learning.
The development of an ICT system and an educational management information system (EMIS) projects
have essential purposes - to connect schools with each other and with the ministry of education for the Sudanese
exams certificate, whose process is to distribute exams, correct, and show the result on-line. While these
projects have only implement partly in the process of showing result it’s easy for students to get their result
from internet or mobile, but the rest parts are still depending on the traditional methods. Although the Sudanese
education ministry pointed out that the education goal that modern technology are needed to integrate in
teaching but the obstacles prevented it.
Owing to the lack of definite scientific planning and the lots of difficulties, the educational institutions
benefit poorly from information technology. And other specific challenges and political issues about the
integration of information technology in education and teacher professional development are following:
Financial and technical obstacles:
Firstly, poor physical infrastructure of technical information technology in education, such as, equipment,
technical programs, classrooms, and learning resource centers. Secondly, slow introduction of computer classes
in school curricula. It limits the spread of computers and the Internet. There is even no allocation of budgets for
the integration of information technology in education. Thirdly, the lack of partnership between IT companies
and educational institutions for the implementation of projects.
Human Obstacles:
Lack of the qualified teachers who are required to use computers and Internet and training programs for
teachers as well, a lack of laboratory technicians to computer labs, networking and learning technologies in
educational institutions, and low level of information technology in education and the high rate of computer
illiteracy with lack of treatment.
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167
Regulatory and administrative obstacles:
The absence of coordination between organizations, information technology companies and educational
institutions. There is the lack of definite scientific plans for IT in education and an operational measure which
follows scientific and technical progress (current and future) in the curriculum, the weak of administrative
authority, supervision, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and delays in decision-making.
The quality of candidates for teaching is largely determined by factors beyond the control of teacher
educators. The prestige accorded the profession by the society, salary levels, competition from other
employment opportunities, working conditions in schools, and conditions of employment are among the factors
that determine who goes into teaching (Howard B. 1991).
In Sudan, since the last decade, much criticism has been directed towards the institutions of teacher
education, because of the poor quality of the teachers they are producing. Most of these institutions are
preparing teachers based on the traditional method of teacher preparation, focusing on inadequate content of
subject matter, ancient theories of psychology of learning and teaching pedagogy. This teaching practice is
lacked of a well organized and accurate supervision of both the educational institutions and the schools, because
of the weak co-ordination between the two. As a result, the graduate teachers produced by these institutions are
of poor quality, they are lacked of the adequate knowledge of the subject matter. Those teachers are also lacked
of knowledge on the current pedagogies and teaching methods, and add these to their poor knowledge in the
application and use of technology in teaching and learning process, which is very essential for the 21st century
teacher. Beside all these, those new teachers are also lacked of the sufficient and effective guidance in their
induction phase. When a new teacher starts his/her teaching practice, he/she needs guidance, help and
encouragement from the senior teachers and the school head teacher; but unfortunately he/she rarely finds. All
the above mentioned factors together, have a negative impact on teacher quality; which is considered as a key
element in improving students’ achievement.
The executive organizations for teacher training according to the country 5years plan is training
departments, colleges and institutions of education, but all these organizations are not eligible to meet this role
of teacher training. Because of the above mentioned challenges, and rehabilitations of teachers, teacher
education and educational institutions need a new policy considering the informationization of education and
the needs of new generation.
CONCLUSIONS
The outcomes of informationization of education plans is that, technology is an unknown word in most of
our school, especially in rural area which is a lot of the lack of infrastructure hinders teachers, and one of the
biggest challenges that face informatioization of education and teacher professional development is the lack of
sufficient budget; the amount of money allotted to teachers training, providing computers and internet
connection is insufficient. Some states or actually most of the states are poor; therefore their ministries of
education have no good financial resources to provide basic technology infrastructures in educational
institutions and teachers training centers. And the teaching profession is not so convincing enough to attract
talented young people, because of the low salaries paid to teachers; as a result most of those who join teaching
profession are lower achievers; they failed to get good marks at high school, so they are already lack of high
motivation.
For reform the government has to increase the budget of education at all levels, primary, secondary and high
education, improve the economic status of teachers, involve educators in national educational policy formation
and develop new policies to get and implement a modern information technology tools into educational
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168
institutions for teachers, students, and administrators to help them getting adapted with modern educational
technology models to reach the informationization of education. Develop new strategies for teacher training to
make best use of technology in teaching and learning and train them to keep looking to the technological change
around them and how to apply it, and all these plans should keep in mind the general statues of stakeholders and
their needs. Finally, establishing strong relationship between information technology companies and
educational institutions for the implementation of projects and that might help updating the new information
technologies into education with its services and applications.
REFERENCES
Alhassan, E.I.K (2011). The Impacts of Electronic Learning Techniques. On Staff Performance
in Sudanese Universities in Khartoum State. African Journal of Education and Technology Volume 1 Number
2 (2011), pp. 1- 7.
Hamdy, Amr (2007). Survey of ICT and Education in Sudan. Survey of ICT and Education in
Africa. 2(53) Country Reports. Washington, DC: infoDef / World Bank, Available at:
http//www.infodef.org/en/publications.354.html
Howard, B. Leavitt (1991). Worldwide Issues and Problems in Teacher Education, Journal of
Teacher Education, 42: pp. 323.
Jiaguo, L & Jie, Yu. (2011). Problems and Countermeasures of Educational Informationization
Construction in Colleges and Universities. Advances in Computer Science, Environment, Ecoinformatics, and
Education Communications in Computer and Information Science. Springer, Volume 214, 2011, pp 496-500.
The federal ministry of education (2008). The development of education in Sudan: The
national report. Presented to the international Bureau of education for the international conference of education
in Geneva. Ministry of education, Sudan.
