Atbarah, northeast of Khartoum, and Al-Gezira College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Abu Naamah in Al-Awsat. The 1990s saw a major expansion of higher education in regions outside the traditional Northern hub. A number of new universities were established, among them Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile (at Al-Damazin), Bahr al-Ghazal, Upper Nile, and Al-Imam Al-Mahdi (at Kosti). In a parallel development, a number of provincial colleges were upgraded to university status, including those at Nyala, Dongola, Port Sudan, Kassala, and Al-Gedaref. In 1993 Al-Neelain University was created when the Sudanese government took over the former Khartoum branch of Cairo University, originally founded in 1955. In August 2006, however, ground was broken in Khartoum for a new campus of Cairo University. Various institutions were designed for specific training. The Islamic University of Omdurman, founded in 1921, existed primarily to train Muslim religious judges and scholars. The Al-Gezira College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, set in Sudan’s most fertile agricultural region, focused on protecting and utilizing Sudan’s environmental resources. Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman was the premier women’s education institution in Sudan. Of particular interest is the case of Omdurman Ahlia University. Academics, professionals, and businessmen founded it in 1982 to meet the ever-growing demand for higher education and practical training. Support came mainly from private donations and foreign foundations as well as from the government. Its curriculum, taught in English and oriented to job training pertinent to the needs of Sudan, proved popular. The expansion of higher education in the 1990s was not accompanied by an increase in funding; hence, the share of funds allocated to each institution was less than what was needed for full operation. Consequently, buildings, laboratories, libraries, and other facilities deteriorated seriously, especially at older institutions, along with the qualifications of the student body. The impact of Arabization and Islamization of the universities’ curricula produced a preoccupation among students with the passing of examinations rather than with the development of skills of analysis and critical thinking. The economic surge resulting from petroleum exports gave hope that these trends might be reversed. In addition, after the signing of the CPA in 2005, there was some improvement in the relationship between the government and the faculty and students in the universities. Educational opportunity As of 2011, the government provided free primary education for children aged six to 14, at least in theory. School closings resulted from civil conflict.