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Since the 1950s there has been increasing efforts by governments and development planners to provide basic education for nomadic communities. These efforts are linked to the notion of education as a fundamental human right – often expressed in national policy statements. However, providing appropriate educational services to nomadic communities seems to be both problematic and challenging. 

The main objective of this particular study is to explore perceptions of knowledge and coping strategies in nomadic communities. The empirical focus of the study is the Hawawir living in the Bayoda desert in Northern Sudan. The dominant way of life of the Hawawir is still pastoral and nomadic. However, as many nomadic peoples also the Hawawir is facing a situation where many among them are gradually becoming more sedentarized, both in the outskirts of urban areas and, as in the case of the Hawawir, in an area called UmJawasir within the Bayoda desert. In this area an Irrigated Agricultural Project has been established in order to create a basis for a viable livelihood in the wake of the droughts during the 1980s. 

Following from this, the present study focuses on education and Hawawir women and men’s perceptions of knowledge and discusses possibilities and constraints for enhancing education of girls in nomadic communities.  In order to get a better understanding of the Hawawir notions of what knowledge is, we have approached knowledge in relation to the various coping strategies considered important to women and men both in the local and national context. Furthermore, in our discussion of the problem of education in nomadic communities, we ask how and what kind of knowledge that is, at present, transferred across generations. This is to get a better understanding for what Hawawir women and men consider as knowledge necessary in order to ensure a ‘good life’ for future generations.  On the basis of the data collected we analyze to what extent formal education in its present form, appear meaningful and thus, attractive to women and men living in nomadic communities. Following from this, we explore whether educational programs could be better accommodated to the needs and coping strategies of people living nomadic lives. How should one organize education or schooling in order to reach girls and boys belonging to nomadic communities? What are the possibilities of enhancing education in nomadic communities?