Abdalle Ahmed Capstone 2th December 2021 Molli and Brendan Revitalizing Education After the Civil War Somaliland and Somalia were once considered one country with one land, one people, and one leader, however a civil war broke out between the two regions. In 1988 the Somali Civil war started. It was a politicized war over the territory of Somaliland. It was a war between the SNM which were Isaaq militia groups and the Siad Barre regime. General Siad Barre was a dictator and people could not tolerate his tyranny which sparked uprisings. After that, tensions started between the government and the SNM. Wars broke out and government systems have started to crumble because people started moving out of their homes seeking refuge in other places. Since then, Somaliland has appointed its own government with its own leaders. Somaliland eventually broke away and aparted from Somalia after the Isaaq massacre that was carried out by the Darood general Jaale Siyaad Barre. These contributors led to the demise of education and the rise of poverty levels in the regions of Somaliland. Since Somaliland’s succession from Somalia’s federal government, they have had 5 successful elections and 5 presidents have been in power since. Somaliland is a peaceful country with a stable government and economy, unlike their neighboring countries. Somalia has been struggling with radicals and terrorist groups ever since. Even though Somaliland is a relatively successful country compared to their neighbors in the horn of Africa, they still have a long way to go when it comes to developing as a nation. However, while other things might not have progressed, education in Somaliland has developed since the civil war when it comes to easy access of educational resources, equal opportunity of education, and high overall literacy rates in the regions. After the civil war, most of the public services were destroyed including the civil infrastructure and educational centers. More than 90% of schools were destroyed in the war. That setback had a huge impact on the overall education systems of the region. The absence of a central government to manage education led to the drastic decrease of literacy rates and the rise of ignorance. People were more focused on surviving the war and finding other places to settle instead of sending their kids and themselves to school. According to the OCHA services news and press release, “The number of primary schools, the focus of our study, has grown steadily from virtually zero in 1990 to 935 in 2014.” This shows that education has gradually been progressing the past few years after the civil war. “Primary schools were given first priority, but seven years into this phase of its independence Somaliland's higher education system came back to life with the inauguration in November 1998 of Amoud University - the country's first post-war institution of higher learning.” (Elmi 2010). Followed by this was a rapid growth in universities and schools all over the country. World organizations and other establishments have been working towards making education more accessible though they might not have succeeded in some places. All people of all backgrounds and ethnicities are subject to basic education. However, since the civil war ended, people have started to relocate back to their lands and communities formed. After that, governments also formed and the nation of Somaliland was born. Education since then seems to have been a priority for the governments of Somaliland. For an individual to be able to go to school and get tutoring they first need to easily be able to access education. “This has, in turn, allowed education and other development sectors to function as early as 1992. Local and international NGOs have had significant involvement in the rehabilitation and development of Somaliland’s education” (Bekelo 6). This shows governments were looking for ways to improve education and they were involved in the process of revitalizing education which also meant education was progressing. “An earlier extensive survey conducted by the Somaliland government (MOEYS, 1996) reported 159 primary schools in operation with over 27,000 pupils” (Bekelo 6). There are 159 operational and functional schools in the regions of Somaliland according to this source and that shows education is progressing. Also “ these surveys revealed that the annual enrolment rate exceeded the pre-war level of 34,300 children in 1987/88 survey put the number of teachers at 1,167, making the pupil to teacher ratio (PTR) for Somaliland at around 31:1. It has been reported that this was achieved largely through a combined effort of the local authorities and communities together with international development agencies”, (Bekelo 6). The governments of Somaliland and other local and international NGOs have made education more accessible by building more schools so that more children can attend wherever they are. Throughout history, different parts of society have been treated differently. Whether people were treated differently because of their skin color or their gender. Women specifically throughout history have been especially oppressed. They only did day to day chores and never had as many rights as men. Somaliland has also culturally and traditionally oppressed women providing them from things like education and basic health care. Women had to go through things like unhealthy mutilations and unfair treatment because of the ignorance that society had bestowed upon them. Even Though it might not look like it, women are important parts of our society. Nevertheless, women were not allowed to attend school while boys could. However, the percentages have started to change since the civil war and more girls started to attend schools. “The survey also revealed that only 17% of primary age children, 23% of boys and 12% of girls aged 6-14 years old, were enrolled in these schools” (Bekelo 6). The source also reveals that “Girls constitute only 30% of the total enrolment” (Gandrup 2020). The number of boys attending schools might be higher than girls but atleast girls were attending schools by now. Although there is progress on increasing enrollment, the civil war had a huge impact on the destruction and the demise of education in these regions. In conclusion, Somaliland's education and literacy situation developed since the end of the Somali Civil War in 1991. The central government restructured and revitalized the sabotaged education systems. More primary, and secondary schools were built to help young kids educate themselves and brighten their future. More universities were built allowing adults to pursue their education further. Equal access to education was also implemented giving girls the chance to get educated and help their country in the future. PASS See comments Bibliography: Bekelo, Samuel. “Post-Conflict Education Development in Somaliland”, Somaliland CyberSpace. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08d21e5274a31e000167a/Post-Conflict EducationDevelopment_in_Somaliland.pd Elmi, Ahmed. “SOMALILAND: Higher education booms despite challenges”, University World News. 5th September 2010. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20100903174336536 Gandrup,Tobias. “How schools are kept afloat in Somaliland”, OCHA services Relief Web. 19 August 2019. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/how-schools-are-kept-afloat-somaliland Hassan, Mohamed. “Literacy in Somalia: A struggle to rebuild the system broken by war”, Development Aid. 23rd July 2020. https://www.developmentaid.org/#!/news-stream/post/70249/literacy-in-somalia-a-struggl e-to-rebuild-the-system-broken-by-war
