X 🇸🇩 | Classes have resumed at the heart of the University of Khartoum, more than three years after war shut it down. The Faculty of Science resumed in-person classes on Sunday, October 11. On the first day back, students crowded outside the Faculty of Arts and returned to lecture halls. A short walk away, burned-out buildings and classrooms full of debris still bear the marks of the fighting. “The university’s return is not merely a return to life, but proof that war cannot break pens, and that bullets will not end an idea,” said science student Nasser Mustafa Hussein. He added that the administration should have taken more time to prepare facilities and dormitories, especially for students traveling from other states. Much of the work to reopen the faculty was done by students themselves. Suhail Saleh, who leads a student initiative rebuilding the Faculty of Science, said volunteers cleaned the faculty and repainted its benches, and that this was the main reason classes could resume. The initiative has received no support from any organization since it began, Saleh said. Its plans for landscaping and new lighting have now stalled for lack of funding. Chemistry student Sheika Khalid said around 80% of students in her department attended the first day back. Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Khartoum became a front line until the army announced it had retaken the capital in March 2025. Nearly 14 million people have been displaced inside and outside the country, according to UN figures. The war has also devastated the education system, forcing the University of Khartoum to hold exams and classes away from its main campus for years.