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Intelligence and Education: The Sudan Case
Adel A. Batterjee and Ikhlas Ashria
Published: 2015/12/01
Abstract
Using results from the application of the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) to a sample from the Sudan general education system (N= 4109), the mean IQ for children age 9 to19 in Sudan is calculated to be 84±15.5 according to the 1979 British norms. The results of this study are compared with those of an earlier Sudanese study performed with a similar sample in 1999 (Khaleefa et al., 2008). This comparison shows IQ gains (“Flynn effects”) for many of the younger, but not the oldest age groups. Analysis of IQ differences between public and private schools, and comparison of different age groups, indicate that children who are educated in the public school system of Sudan show an age-related IQ decline relative to children in Britain and the United States, on whom the SPM test was normed for different age groups. The study also shows that poor education, job level, and income of parents could have negative effects on cognitive abilities of their children. Key Words: Sudan, Intelligence, Flynn effect, Gender difference, Progressive Matrices, SES.
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