Higher Education Policy Development and Brain Drain in Sudan: A Case Study in Khartoum

This study aims to find elements for developing higher education policy in order to stem a brain drain in Sudan based on the interview with university students and graduates in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Sudan has focused on higher education since its independence in 1956, especially concerning budget allocation. It has been expanding the number of educational institutions and students following the formulation of the Higher Education Act 1990, under the former regime (1989-2019). However, a large number of highly-skilled workers, such as doctors and professors, have been leaving the country aiming to secure a better life owing to the unstable political and economic situation. This brain drain leads to a hollowing out of the highly skilled human resources and to economic stagnation in the country. I conducted a semi-structured interview in Khartoum from March to May 2018. The interviewees were 26 university students and graduates. I found that almost all interviewees intended to go out of Sudan, and they could be categorized four groups: (1) voluntary returning group, (2) acceptable remaining group, (3) aiming planned emigration group, and (4) aiming unplanned emigration group. The first group intends to come back after they get experience abroad. The second one hopes to go out, but considers that staying in Sudan is another option. The last two types are eager to move out, but the former group has plans for studying or working in foreign countries; the latter one has no specific ideas. Given the country's political and economic situation, this study recommends accepting the temporal brain drain and focusing on the increase of the number of voluntary returning group in collaboration and cooperation with researchers, companies, and policymakers

東広島市におけるムスリム移民と学校給食の在り方に関する考察 : 移民の統合という視点から

This case study examines how to include Muslim immigrants, who often have religious dietary restrictions, in Japanese school lunch programs. To investigate this, the study adopts Takahashi’s (2019) three migrant integration categories: assimilation, multiculturalism, and civic integration. The concept of migrant integration recognizes that adaptation into the destination country is an important process requiring the education sector’s cooperation to promote social cohesion among diverse communities. School lunch programs in Japan have been institutionalized by Shokuiku Basic Act and School Lunch Program Act. Although Japan aims to be a multicultural society, these Acts have not been designed for immigrants, especially Muslims. Consequently, Muslim immigrant children often bring lunchboxes from home while their classmates eat school meals. The literature on school meals and religion indicates that eating different foods in the classroom may cause social divisions between children. This practice also exacerbates the tension between the practice of Islam as a minority religion and Japanese culture, which values harmony and uniformity. This study uses interview data from two public primary school teachers, three members of the school meal supply center, and eight Muslim households in the city of Higashihiroshima. The results reveal that the school lunch period accommodates basic multiculturalism. Muslim students may bring lunchboxes and eat in the same space as their classmates. While this practice respects their beliefs and appears an ideal response to the challenges of multiculturalism, it has the potential of distinguishing between Muslim children and their classmates and falling short of the aims of the Japanese school lunch program. This study suggests that it is essential to consider how to include Muslim immigrant children in school lunch policies to further social cohesion and provide them with an opportunity to understand the Japanese school lunch program’s value. Multiculturalism, to be genuine, must be considered a two-way process involving the host society and immigrants

頭脳流出・流入と母国への貢献意識に関する研究 : エジプトと日本におけるスーダン人高度人材の「スーダニーズネス」に着目して

内容の要約博士(教育学)Doctor of Philosophy in Education広島大学Hiroshima Universit

School Lunch and Muslimness: A Case Study in Higashihiroshima City, Japan

This study examines barriers to sustaining the Muslimness of Muslim migrants in Japan, focusing on school lunch at public primary schools in Higashihiroshima city. The discussion of school meals has shifted the welfare of citizens to the human rights of those living in a multicultural society. It has also polarized the issues of whether to preserve the origin country’s culture and whether to accept different cultures within the global context of multiculturalism. Although achieving a multicultural society requires merging these two ideologies, neither Europe nor Japan has been able to effectively deal with school meals in matters related to religion. To consider this religious complication in a non-Islamic country, Japan, we conceptualize “Muslimness” as a norm that Muslims in Japan created and developed their sense of “being Muslim” with information collected and interpreted through Japan, through their country of origin, and through the global community. Data comprise interviews from eight Muslim households and two primary school teachers from different schools in Higashihiroshima city. The city is located in Hiroshima prefecture and is transitioning toward multiculturalism as the development of universities and industrial areas has encouraged foreign population growth. The results can categorize four school lunch options for Muslim students: (1) bringing their own lunches every day, (2) eating school lunch and removing non-halal ingredients/dish(es), (3) eating school lunch and bringing their own lunches depending on the menu, and (4) eating school lunch as offered. Our informants protect their Muslimness by bringing lunch boxes instead of eating school meals that are served porc and non-halal meat almost daily. Barriers to sustaining Muslimness might emerge due to the effort of making lunch boxes every day and demonstrating different circumstances from their classmates who eat school lunch. This study suggests that establishing a school lunch system that meets the needs of Muslim minorities would be a significant step toward realizing a high quality of education and “learning continuity,” which is a Japan International Cooperation Agency vision for education cooperation in Japan