Somaliland Central

                                                    Structure of Somaliland Education System

The Republic of Somaliland has invested a great deal to develop its country. A knowledge economy based on investment in human capital continues to be a priority for the Ministry and the government more broadly. Although great accomplishments have been achieved in the Education sector many challenges still remain.

Primary Education

5.1 Situation Analysis

Only 31.5% of Available data from the full ESA shows that school access and school retention remain critical issue at all levels of the education system, especially for the most vulnerable populations such as girls, rural/nomadic pastoralist, the poor, disabled, IDPs, and over-aged out-of-school children. However, when considering the drive to expand access rapidly by increasing numbers of schools and classrooms, one must also consider how to maintain the quality of education services.

Currently, in Somaliland, creating and meeting the demand for access to quality education remains a challenge. Only 36.8% have access to upper primary education (as shown further below) – let alone go on to complete secondary and post-secondary studies. For the country to meet its long-term development needs, it must develop its human resources to their full potential. Primary Education is the largest sector within the MOEHS structure. The enrolment numbers are the higher than in any other subsector. Thanks to the introduction of free primary education by Presidential Decree in 2011 there was a significant increase in enrolment, especially in Grade 1, though not as great as one might have expected when looking at the impact of free primary education in neighbouring countries. This increase, combined with poor management and supervision of teachers, lack of physical infrastructure, particularly in remote areas, inadequate teaching and learning materials, and low participation of school committees and communities in school management contribute to problems in providing quality education. And although Grade 1 enrolment increased, the overall increase in enrolment has been little more than the increase in the population in that age group. Thus, the enrolment figures have fallen well short of the targets put forward under the outgoing ESSP. The net effect has been a stagnant GER when compared with 2012.

Gender Parity Index (GPI): It is positive to note that the GPI for primary education has indeed increased over for the last four years from 0.76 to 0.83. This shows that the previous work and campaigns have had some success and should be extended until the planned parity has been achieved ensuring that girls are receiving equal opportunities in accessing learning facilities. Access to education facilities by those persons with physical disabilities continues to be a challenge although no reliable statistics exist. In fact, that lack of statistics is in itself indicative of existing attitudes to disability as a low priority issue.

Barriers for girls. As shown below shows that female teachers comprised between 15% in 2012 and then 20% in 2014, dropping back to 14% in 2015. The Statistics Year book for 2014/15 also states that 16% of Government teachers are female, whilst 14% of non-government primary schools are female. Whilst this decrease may not be significant in the long-run, the figures depict a poor gender balance in the teaching force at primary level. Further, this imbalance may limit equity in and access to support services for girls and women and deprives girls of role models. Similarly, the percentage of female students is below 50% (as already show by GPI figures earlier), indicating that access to school falls short of the target as far as equity (and potentially, teacher and pupil perspectives and expectations) is concerned. As such, limited progress has been made with creating enabling environments for girls in schools.

Schools and classrooms built: Starting from extremely modest levels36, by 2015 a total of 1,083 primary schools in Somaliland were built, and representing an annual growth rate of almost 4%. At the same time, ABE centres, which are included in this school count, declined due to the trend of transforming them into formal primary schools. As reported in the ESA, the construction programme largely achieved the original objectives of keeping up with any growth in enrolment, and as a result, the average class to learners’ ratio has improved significantly and now stands at 46. However, there remain concerns about the distribution of learning spaces because some urban areas tend to have overcrowded classrooms while some rural schools have very small, and therefore uneconomic, class numbers. In addition, issues remain with the quality of many school facilities in terms of water, office space and space for play areas.

School Feeding programmes: Another key factor, evidenced in the ESA, that impacts on attendance, especially attendance of girls, is related to the availability of school feeding programmes. For the period 2012 and 2016, the target was set to provide 200 primary schools with facilities for school feeding including take-home rations for girls in these schools. EMIS reports show that, of the targeted schools, 172 schools were reached and 18,548 girls received take- home rations.

Increasing gap between public and private education. The ESA has documented that quality across all education subsectors remains a constant challenge as evidenced by rather low achievement levels described above in the MLA results. This may have contributed to an increasing trend towards privatisation of basic (primary and secondary) education, largely driven by the low quality delivery of public services and partly attributable to low quality of teachers and low professional morale, as well as poor infrastructure and lack of equipment in public schools. Private education can provide significant stimuli to the public sector and makes a major contribution (about 30%) to improved access. However, both should compete on a comparable financial basis and the public sector should not subsidise private education. In addition, the Ministry must ensure that the private sector meets minimum standards and is compliant with the National Education Policy.

School Environment and Risk Management. There is very little supporting data available on implementation of risk management practices either at baseline or since. In a context such as Somaliland, education delivery both needs protection against risk and is in itself a means of risk prevention, protection and peace building. This was well-illustrated through the risk management and peacebuilding approach taken in curriculum development consultative process that was supported by UNICEF and managed by AET (see full ESA for further detail).

6. Secondary Education

6.1 Situation Analysis

Secondary education in Somaliland spans four years, from Form 1 to 4, and is divided into junior secondary (Forms 1 to 2) and senior secondary (Forms 3 and 4). Entrance to secondary education is, in theory, determined by the centrally administered standardized examinations at the end of class 8 (the last year of primary education). The MOEHS National Policy of Education (2015) targeted a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50% by 2016. In fact, as of 2015, the GER was only 21.3% (boys 25%, girls 17%) and the Net Enrolment Rate (NER), was 10.5% (boys 11.6%, girls 9%) for the same period. Whilst explicit data describing the age range of enrolled secondary students was not available, the difference between NER and GER shows that approximately 50% of students are not within the appropriate age group of 14 to 17 years. The real entry age for secondary education varies due to access limitations, such as cost of education, in addition to late completion of primary school resulting in a high proportion of secondary students being over-age.

Just over half (55.6%) of the secondary school students are enrolled in government-owned schools. Private schools therefore have a significant share of students in the secondary sector. This correlates with the regional distribution of private secondary schools, most of which are in urban areas where economic conditions are better and families can afford higher school costs. Private schools also have better gender ratios, with 43.1% of students in private schools being girls in contrast to only 35.3% in government-run schools. This difference also springs from the reality that public secondary schools are situated in more disadvantaged regions that experience greater social barriers to girl’s participation in education.

In this subsector, as elsewhere, teachers give private classes for students at a cost, giving an advantage to those students who can afford it and benefiting teachers who are paid by parents. This practice raises issues of equity (and perhaps the effectiveness of those teachers in their ‘normal’ classes). However, this practice also keeps the best teachers within the government system as it ensures that they earn a reasonable income and are thus less inclined to move entirely to private schools.

Non-Formal Education (NFE)

7.1 Situation Analysis

Non formal Education (NFE) is defined as a practical and functional mix of fundamental literacy, numeracy and skills for life. It focuses on community or district-based programs that engage out-of-school youth in learning in order to prepare them to improve their life opportunities and/or successfully enter high growth occupations and careers. The Ministry of Education’s department of Non-Formal Education (NFE) seeks to foster lifelong education and support services. It provides services for youth/adult learning, girls/women’s learning spaces and family learning centres that enable individuals to access education in various life skills that equip them with the ability to generate sustainable and healthy livelihoods, while developing as informed and skilled citizens.

Currently the Non-Formal Education Program operates without training manuals or standardized curriculum. A lot of capacity strengthening is required. The NFE department in order to ensure delivery of quality education and training services needs to develop its capacity and human resources. This includes the development of rural educational strategies programs and improvement of advanced level of NFE linkages to the other education subsectors, establishment of an equivalency certification system and Institutionalization of NFE teachers and provision of in-service teacher training on regular basis. There are a total of 260 NFE centres across Somaliland with which the MOEHS is involved. The following Table about the regional NFE Enrolment between the years 2014 and 2015 is the only available data according to the monitoring reports collected by the Ministry of Education and Higher Studies in collaboration with all stakeholders/ partners.

Higher Education

9.1 Situation Analysis

The Education Sector Analysis (2012-2016) observed that the Higher Education (HE) sector is relatively new in Somaliland. As a result, data on university education in Somaliland is extremely limited due to lack of regulation of institutions and insufficient Ministry involvement. In the recent decade the growth of tertiary education has been significant. From the core of established universities ranging back to the 1990’s such as Amoud, Hargeisa, Gollis and Burao University an impressive growth has emerged to 35 recognised universities in the country53. Very similar to the private largely unregulated economic sector the rapid growth of the HE sector has followed initiatives, mostly privately driven, be it as possible business ventures, or more often from philanthropic motives, often in the form of joint ventures. This is a reason for the diversity of university programmes and status (public / private), and it is clear that the majority of the usually much smaller universities are still private initiatives. Almost all universities were founded by diaspora and local communities but are now considered public institutions under the authority of the Somaliland government.

The remaining under 20 autonomous universities founded by NGOs or private entities are generally self-financing through student fees. The Universities receive limited support from external donors, which include the Somali diaspora, the Developing Partners, including United Nations Agencies, and local major stakeholders. Overall participation has grown significantly and the latest annual enrolment stands at approximately 13,000 students.