Education in Sudan is free and/or compulsory for children aged 6 to 13 years. Primary education up to the 2019/2020 academic year consists of eight years, followed by three years of secondary education. The primary/secondary educational ladder of 6+3+3 years was switched in 1965 and during the Omar al-Bashir presidency to 8+3 and is scheduled, during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, to return to 6+3+3 in the 2020/2021 academic year. The primary language at all levels is Arabic. Starting in the 2020/2021 academic year, English is to be taught starting at kindergarten. Schools are concentrated in urban areas; many in the South and West were damaged or destroyed by years of civil war. In 2001 the World Bank estimated that primary enrolment was 46 percent of eligible pupils and 21 percent of secondary students. Enrolment varies widely, falling below 20 percent in some provinces. Sudan has 36 government universities and 19 private universities, in which instruction is primarily in Arabic. Education at the secondary and university levels is seriously hampered by the requirement that most males perform military service before completing their education. During the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, the percentage of the national budget spent on education is planned to increase from the al-Bashir 2018 value of 3 percent to 20 percent. The literacy rate in 2018 was 60.7% of total population, male: 65.4%, female: 56.1%. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Sudan is fulfilling only 42.3% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Sudan's income level, the nation is achieving 47.0% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 37.6% for secondary education. History of education in Sudan Egyptian rule and the Mahdist period In the 1850s, the Turks, who were ruling Sudan through the Khedive of Egypt, decided to open five schools in different towns in northern Sudan. These taught Islamic studies, arithmetic, and the Arabic and Turkish languages. The teachers in the schools were Egyptians. The schools were all destroyed during the Mahdist period between 1881-1898. The condominium, 1898–1956 Prior to the establishment of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium in 1898, the only educational facilities remaining in the Sudan were the village Koran