On July 25, final year students from 26 secondary schools in the southern region of Eritrea were transferred to the Sawa training camp to complete their 12th year of education at the Warsai-Yekealo Institute (https://african.business/2022/07/apo-newsfeed/eritrea-students-from-southern-region-arrive-in-sawa/).
This marked the start of the 35th training cycle of the national service, which calls for secondary school students to spend the last year of the school program as part of the training activities at the Sawa complex in the Gash-Barka region.
On July 12, final year secondary school students from the Northern Red Sea, Anseba and Gash-Barka regions had arrived in Sawa, and on July 16 and 20, those from the Central Southern Red Sea Region, respectively.
The training program, as is well known, has come under sharp criticism in the international community, and is believed to be one of the main reasons for the flight of young Eritreans from the country.
On July 28, however, Eritrea’s Ministry of Information published an article celebrating the collective commitment to national service, describing it as a key step in the training process for young people and a vital element in the nation’s security (https://shabait.com/2022/07/28/from-nakfa-to-sawa-2/).
