The number of students sitting end of year school exams this year has significantly reduced amongst Blue Nile refugees in Upper Nile state in South Sudan.

Only 20 percent of the total number of students are expected to sit the exams, prompting fears amongst authorities about the numbers that will begin the new academic year.

The only children that are able to sit the exams are those that arrived with their families at the outbreak of war, said education coordinator for Blue Nile refugees Hussein Jabak Allah.

He added that the conflict between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement north and the Sudanese army is continuing to destabilise the camps.