SSD 03 – SUPPORT FOR THE RENK PRIMARY SCHOOL
Project Location
The city of Renk is located in northern South Sudan, along the Nile River, a short distance from the border with Sudan. Until 2023, Renk was a large, relatively prosperous city, both for agricultural production and trade with Sudan. With the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in 2023, the situation changed dramatically. The city has suffered severe consequences due to the conflict in the neighboring country, the decline in trade, but above all, the massive influx of refugees and war-displaced persons.
Their number has exceeded one million, and most of them have passed through Renk. Those arriving from war zones have generally lost all their belongings and often even lost loved ones. Local authorities have opened reception centers and camps for refugees and displaced persons, but humanitarian conditions are very precarious.
Project description
For many years, the Comboni Missionary Sisters of the Renk community have run the parish primary school, which serves boys and girls from various ethnic groups, particularly the Dinka, Shilluk, and Nuer. Due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons from Sudan, the school population increased from 1,048 to 1,631 students in 2025, a 55% increase.
At the request of parents and to meet this increased educational need, the school administration introduced an afternoon curriculum. Teaching is now conducted in two cycles, morning and afternoon, to give new arrivals the opportunity to receive an education. There are 966 morning students and 665 afternoon students.
The St. Daniele Comboni Primary School has shown itself willing to welcome the large number of students arriving from Sudan, who have joined an already large school population given the building and available space. However, the increase in numbers has not been matched by a commensurate increase in income, as displaced or refugee families from Sudan live in precarious economic conditions and struggle to pay school fees.
The facility requires urgent extraordinary maintenance, particularly the reconstruction of the surrounding wall and the repair of 16 classrooms (which will be done gradually so as not to interrupt the school curriculum), as well as the construction of a new classroom block to better accommodate the growing number of students. This project aims to cover the most urgent repairs, namely the surrounding wall and two classrooms.
Objectives
- Ensure safe and adequate infrastructure for primary schools.
- Ensure continuity and access to education for a growing number of students, including refugee and displaced children.
- Promote inclusion and social cohesion among different ethnic groups in a humanitarian emergency context.
Beneficiaries
Direct: 1,631 children
Indirect: families and the community
Referent sisters: sr Elena Balatti e sr Florence Djoua Gado
Project's costs