The purpose of this study was to analyze the new policy for higher education, the so-called higher education revolution, in the Sudan. It attempted to investigate the issue of educational policy implementation in developing countries. The study focused on an important question: In the Sudan--where the brain drain has left not enough skilled labour and highly qualified people, where the war is taking place in the south, where economic crisis is a major problem, where basic needs of the population are to be met and where political stability is the exception rather than the rule--how can a new policy for higher education be implemented and achieve its goals with any level of satisfaction to the policy makers, implementers and the people?
The methodology used in the study was mainly qualitative. The analysis was based on reports prepared by committees formed by the Sudanese government to study the policy implementation process. The committees' recommendations were categorized into groups by resolution. This organization facilitated the comparison and contrast between the resolutions and their recommendations.
The research concluded that the new policy has received the full support of the government and wide support from the academic community. However, the implementation faces major problems: financial constraints, war in the south, poor working conditions, resistance to change within the higher education institutions, change of top level administrators, shortage in faculty and staff, lack of teaching facilities and equipments. The study also found that successful implementation depends highly on the existence of effective management and on the cooperation and the willingness of higher education institutions and on actions taken by individual institutions. The committees overemphasized the need for more qualified staff and neglected the need for people with high managerial skills and strong leadership. In addition, the study found that if the job market cannot absorb the graduates of higher education institutions, the policy will create more problems than it attempted to solve.
Finally, the implementation of this policy is not easy under the present circumstances. However, this policy is a challenge for those who initiated it as well as those who oppose. Those who initiated the policy face the challenge of achieving its stated goals and objectives; the challenge for the opponents is not only to prove that this policy is unattainable and doomed to failure, but also to come up with realistic objectives for the higher education system in the Sudan.
