From Body Protection to Soul Nourishment: Why Sudan’s Schools Need a Revolution in Health, Environment, Agriculture – and Entrepreneurial Learning

(With Pioneering Sudanese Models of Self‑Reliance)

By: Eng. Abdelrahman Mohamed Zain (Magdi)

Industrial Refrigeration Expert & HSE Culture Specialist

E.mail: mr.zainrac@gmail.com

In collaboration with: Mr. Mohamed Adam Ahmed Abubashr

Director, School Nutrition & Agricultural Culture Department

In Sudan, we still teach our children reading, writing and arithmetic – but too often we do not teach them how to protect themselves from danger, how to respect the environment, how to grow their own food with their own hands, how to start a small project, or how to connect to the land that gives them life.

This is not a passing observation.

It is a fatal gap in educational philosophy.

While Professor Nasr Eldin Kabbashi warned at the Al Wafa Organization seminar that a ton of gold may be worth $150,000, but the lifespan of a miner inhaling mercury vapour is only 5 to 10 years – describing pollution as a “long‑lasting environmental bomb” that travels thousands of kilometres – another voice, equally profound, came from the School Nutrition & Agricultural Culture Department.

That voice says:

“School farming is not a side activity, but a comprehensive scientific vision to prepare young people intellectually and emotionally, and to connect them to the land that produces food and clothing.”

Today, we add a third dimension: Entrepreneurial Learning – the missing link that turns knowledge into action, and action into sustainable livelihoods.

Why not combine these three worlds?

The world of preventive safety that protects children from chemical poisons, the world of school farming that plants in their souls a love for work and the environment, and the world of entrepreneurial education that gives them the mindset to create, innovate and build their own future.

Part One: The Silent Bomb – When Gold Leaves and Poisons Remain

The “Cyanide and Mercury in Gold Mining” seminar revealed that:

· 98% of miners in Abu Hamad suffer from chronic mercury poisoning.

· The Hazard Index for children reaches 33 times the safe limit.

· Pollution does not die with the workers – it spreads through soil, water and air for thousands of kilometres.

But the question that was not asked:

What is the role of the school in preventing this disaster?

The answer: absent.

Because our schools do not teach the child how to recognise hazardous materials, how to act during a chemical spill, how to protect the village well from contamination.

Nor do they teach him how to grow a radish or a tomato, or how to turn food waste into compost, or how to start a small business selling safe vegetables instead of working in a toxic mine.

Part Two: School Farming – The Productive School as a Shield Against Ignorance and Pollution

Mr. Mohamed Adam Ahmed Abubashr, Director of School Nutrition & Agricultural Culture, says:

“School farming is the optimal method to produce food from the school garden and serve it as a complete or supplementary meal to the most needy students.”

It is not just a casual agricultural activity. It represents:

1. Practical application of science – the student sees with his own eyes how a plant germinates, reproduces and bears fruit.

2. A stable source of income – contributing to an attractive school environment, far from street vendors selling contaminated snacks and expired chips.

3. Instilling cooperation and altruism – as students plant together and share the harvest.

4. Promoting health and nutrition – a meal from the school garden is richer than any processed chips or sugary drinks.

5. Protection from pollution – a student who knows how organic vegetables are produced will not easily accept soil contaminated with mercury or cyanide.

Even more: School farming is the beginning of genuine environmental awareness and entrepreneurial action.

A child who plants a seedling, waters it and watches it grow will defend the earth, water and air more fiercely than any theoretical textbook. That same child can learn to sell the surplus produce, manage a small budget, and develop a real business mindset from the school garden.

Part Three: Entrepreneurial Learning – The Global Imperative

The 21st century demands more than memorisation. It demands creativity, innovation, and the ability to solve real-world problems. The international community has made this clear:

· Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) explicitly calls for promoting skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

· SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) emphasises policies that support productive activities, job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation.

· UNESCO’s TVET Strategy (2016–2021) identifies youth employment and entrepreneurship as one of its three substantive priorities.

Entrepreneurial learning provides a realistic and effective way to develop transferable skills needed in a rapidly changing world. It involves solving real-world problems through an educational ecosystem that engages students, teachers, employers and other social partners.

Reorienting technical and vocational institutions towards graduating students with an entrepreneurial mindset brings benefits to everyone:

· Students gain skills for life and work.

· Teachers maintain and expand their relationships with industry.

· Employers can partner with institutions to solve workplace problems and innovate.

· Communities benefit from social projects initiated by students.

This is not a luxury. It is a necessity for a country like Sudan, where formal jobs are scarce and young people must learn to create their own opportunities.

Part Four: Two Authentic Sudanese Models of Self‑Reliance – The Original Entrepreneurs

Ignorance is not in our nature; what we lack are role models and lived experience. Yet our educational history is rich with great examples proving that when Sudanese unite with determination, they can build educational institutions that exceed all expectations – and these were, in essence, the first entrepreneurial schools.

1. Al‑Qirsh Industrial Institute – How One Piaster Built a Nation of Craftsmen

In the heart of Omdurman, back in 1931, local people faced an idea that seemed impossible: establishing an institute to teach orphans and poor children crafts and industries – free of charge. The government had no capacity, and the citizens had no wealth. But they possessed extraordinary will.

The call was launched: “Donate one piaster.” Donations poured in – piaster by piaster – until the Al‑Qirsh Industrial Institute became a reality, a sanctuary taking children and young people towards a bright future. It was not just a building; it was an integrated life project containing dormitories, workshops and educational programmes that continued for decades, graduating generations of skilled industrialists who became the backbone of state enterprises and national factories.

This institute was a living example of entrepreneurial learning decades before the term became fashionable. Students learned by doing, produced real goods, and understood that work creates value.

2. Talha Agricultural School – The Jewel of Agricultural Education Built by Local Hands

No less impressive is the story of Talha school. In 1970, on the land of Gezira State, specifically in Talha village, a unique educational dream materialised.

The school did not wait for a government directive. The villagers, neighbouring communities and the farmers’ union voluntarily donated 75 feddans for the establishment of this agricultural school. They were convinced that “learning by hand” was the key to progress, so they built it with their own hands and equipped it to become a national school receiving students from all over Sudan.

The school did not stop at buildings; it was furnished with state‑of‑the‑art facilities:

· A food processing laboratory for teaching and training students in food industries.

· A dairy laboratory to train students in dairy production.

· An integrated animal production and veterinary unit, including cattle, sheep, camels and poultry pens, and a hatchery.

· A fully equipped blacksmith’s workshop.

· A model orchard producing fruits and vegetables.

Thus, the school transformed from merely an educational institution into a complete productive city, financing itself and participating in central food exhibitions. This is entrepreneurial learning at its purest: students producing, managing, selling, and reinvesting.

Part Five: Lessons Learned – Self‑Reliance, Entrepreneurship, and Environmental Safety as One Package

These two pioneering models offer us great lessons that demolish the wall of excuses we constantly repeat:

· Self‑reliance is not a slogan, it is action. One piaster built an institute. Donated land built a first‑class agricultural school.

· Entrepreneurship begins in school, not after graduation. Both Al‑Qirsh and Talha taught students to produce, manage resources, and solve real problems.

· Integration of mind, hand, heart and environment creates miracles. Combining academic education, vocational training, production, safety awareness and environmental respect is what made these experiences exceptional.

Today, we must add one more layer: Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) education must be woven into this fabric. The student who learns to farm must also learn how to protect himself from chemical hazards. The student who learns a craft must also learn occupational safety. The student who starts a small business must also learn environmental responsibility.

Part Six: Why Not Combine Safety, Farming, and Entrepreneurship in One Curriculum?

Imagine a Sudanese school:

· In the morning: A lesson on the dangers of mercury and cyanide, how to handle chemicals, basics of first aid, and the meaning of a “long‑lasting bomb”.

· After the lesson: Students go to the school garden, where they grow vegetables, care for a poultry unit, manage a small nursery, and turn organic waste into compost using safe techniques.

· At midday: They eat a supplementary meal from their own garden, cooked in the school kitchen according to hygiene and food safety standards.

· In the afternoon: An entrepreneurship class where students learn to calculate the cost of production, set a price for surplus vegetables, market their products to the local community, and manage a small school cooperative.

· At the end of the week: They leave with a knowledge package containing: agricultural skills, environmental awareness, a preventive mindset, business acumen, and a healthy body.

This is not fantasy.

This is the integrated model that Sudan needs. And this is precisely what Al‑Qirsh Institute and Talha Agricultural School were offering decades ago – only now we need to add the preventive safety element and the explicit entrepreneurial learning framework.

Part Seven: The Ten Golden Rules of School Farming – An Indivisible Vision

Mr. Mohamed Adam emphasises that school farming cannot succeed in isolation from:

· Preparing teachers and qualifying them to manage productive projects.

· Providing a safe school canteen.

· Making Rural Education a compulsory subject in teacher training institutes – alongside Islamic Education, Arabic Language and Psychology – as a requirement for obtaining a teaching licence.

To this, we add two more golden rules:

· Eleventh rule: Every school must integrate basic HSE (Health, Safety & Environment) education into its farming and production activities.

· Twelfth rule: Every school must introduce entrepreneurial learning – starting with simple bookkeeping, marketing, and cooperative management – so that students graduate with the mindset of a problem‑solver and creator, not just a job‑seeker.

These align perfectly with UNESCO’s guidelines on embedding entrepreneurial learning into the core of technical and vocational education.

Part Eight: An Open Call to the Government and Sovereignty Council

We call upon the Ministries of Education, Agriculture, Health, Labour, and Finance to:

1. Integrate chemical and environmental safety concepts into the Rural Education and school farming curriculum.

2. Establish a model garden and small production unit in every school, equipped with safe irrigation, a nursery, and a small animal unit.

3. Train supervising teachers in productive project management, food safety, and basic entrepreneurship.

4. Apply school canteen standards according to the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Authority, and ban street vendors.

5. Revise teacher training institute curricula to make Rural Education, HSE, and Entrepreneurial Learning compulsory for teaching licences.

6. Study the experiences of Al‑Qirsh Industrial Institute and Talha Agricultural School to develop a national strategy for self‑reliance and entrepreneurship in public education.

7. Partner with UNESCO, ILO and other international bodies to adapt the global entrepreneurial learning framework to Sudan’s context.

Most important of all:

Look at the Sudanese child as an integrated whole – not only the head for exams, but the heart for the land, the hands for work, the body for health, the soul for the environment, and the mind to create opportunity.

Part Nine: A Message to Teachers and Students – You Are the Real Entrepreneurs of the Future

To every teacher reading this: You are not just a knowledge transmitter. You are a learning facilitator, a behaviour shaper, and an entrepreneurship coach.

To every student: You do not need to wait for a government job or a mining tragedy. Your school garden can be your first startup. Your handcraft can be your first product. Your cooperative can be your first company. And your awareness of safety and environment can be your competitive advantage.

You have the power to turn your school into a life‑saving, environment‑protecting, wealth‑creating hub.

Conclusion: Between Danger and Hope

I returned from the cyanide and mercury seminar burdened by the facts, Professor Kabbashi’s words echoing in my ears: “It is a long‑lasting environmental bomb.”

But I am not hopeless.

Because Sudan still possesses minds like Professor Nasr Eldin Kabbashi, Professor Asim Fadl, Mr. Mohamed Adam, and many others who have both knowledge and will, and who dare to speak the truth as it is.

Because Sudan’s history shines with bright models like Al‑Qirsh Industrial Institute and Talha Agricultural School – proving that the people of this nation can work miracles when their will is united.

Because independent media – represented by The Citizen – has decided to be part of the solution, not just a carrier of news.

And because now we have a roadmap: Integrate safety, farming, and entrepreneurial learning into one national educational vision.

But hope alone is not enough. We need courageous decisions, swift implementation, and accountability for those who fail.

Mercury does not wait. Cyanide does not wait. The long‑lasting bomb is being planted today, and our children will pay the price tomorrow.

It is time for a revolution in health, safety, environment, agriculture and entrepreneurship – from school desks to mining sites.

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.

Eng. Abdelrahman Mohamed Zain (Magdi)

Editor, Health, Safety & Environment Team

In collaboration with: Mr. Mohamed Adam Ahmed Abubashr

Director, School Nutrition & Agricultural Culture Department

The Citizen Newspaper – Weekly Edition – Last Page

May 2026

References:

· Cyanide and Mercury in Gold Mining seminar, Al Wafa Organization for the University of Gezira, 12 April 2026.

· UNESCO guidelines on Entrepreneurial Learning in TVET (2016–2021).

· Sustainable Development Goals 4 & 8.

· Facebook pages of Mr. Mohamed Adam Ahmed Abubashr:

https://www.facebook.com/share/14Z2TRd3n29/

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CVaurLt4a/

· Documentary posts about Talha Agricultural School and Al‑Qirsh Industrial Institute.