Somalia’s Higher
Education, What Is It Good For?
Somali National University
before the civil war.
With the outbreak of civil war in 1988 and the accompanied
collapse of the central state in 1991, social services provision in Somalia had
been disrupted. Somalia’s educational system, among many other important
pillars, was destroyed. Periods of insecurity and intermittent conflicts
hampered the ability of local populations to repair the country’s educational
resources, facilities, and infrastructure.
The destruction of this sector went far beyond the collapse of
government structures. Somalia suffered a severe case of brain drain as the
educated fled the country. This prolonged period of insecurity and instability
has deprived a generation of young Somalis of the opportunity to attend school
and get formal education. Consequently, Somalia now has one of the world’s
lowest literacy rates.
Higher education in Somalia is facing several challenges ranging
from insecurity, institutional weakness, staff and infrastructure inadequacies,
a lack of investment, and a shortage of educational resources, all of which
contribute to the overall quality of education.
This essay briefly discusses the challenges facing higher
education in Somalia.
Quality Of Education
Every nation outlines the objectives of its higher education
system and the institutional traits that guide the essential qualities expected
of its graduates. In 2005 UNESCO created guidelines for “Quality Provision in
Cross Border Higher Education”. These guidelines acknowledge that quality
differs across nations, but they urge the use of basic global standards to
determine educational excellence. Somalia has not yet put national standards
and regulations in place to direct the delivery of higher education. Several
efforts have been made to date to develop effective standards with measurable
outcomes, however, there are currently no countrywide standardized curricula,
assessments, data structures, or integration options available at Somali
universities.
Institutions are not subjected to any comprehensive national
legislation governing higher education. To standardize higher education across
the nation, the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Higher Education is tasked
with creating a quality assurance system. So far, due to inconsistent and
incohesive ministerial policies at the federal and member-state levels, the
ministry has only now begun evaluating and registering unaccredited existing
universities.
Additionally, another hindrance to the quality of education is the
substandard teacher qualification levels, poor pupil supervision and support,
and the lack of distribution of materials to support teaching.
The problems with teachers and the quality of teaching are
two-fold: first, there is an overall teacher shortage, and second, teachers
have low levels of qualifications. This in turn has negatively affected the
overall quality of education in the country. It is, therefore, no surprise the
never-ending cycle of mismatch between graduates from higher educational
institutions and the market needs.
Furthermore, there is an absence of funding for research
activities within Somalia’s higher education institutions. Most higher
education institutions lack well-resourced libraries, information technology
facilities, and research-oriented staff. For this reason, higher education
institutions do not qualify as research universities. Not only are the research
outputs minimal, but they are also viewed as substandard and rarely make it to
prestigious publication outlets.
Commercialisation of Education
Today, there is a growing concern about the paradigm shift within
education from service to business. The absence of substantial higher education
governance allows raw capitalism to dominate the higher education arena in
Somalia as it focuses on increasing the bottom line for its investors.
Because of the commercialization of education, the direction of
education mainly lies in the hands of shareholders. As a direct result, Somalia
is producing graduates that are not equipped with the skills needed in the job
market.
The gap between graduate competencies and industrial/societal
needs has never been wider. This has sparked a debate over the value of college
degrees in Somalia. University graduates are increasingly becoming less
optimistic about their future in terms of employment and the contributions they
can make within society.
As an ode to its utter uselessness and as a symbolic gesture of
wasted time and money, some in a state of utter hopelessness, have been seen
recording themselves on social media burning their university degree
certification.
Incoherent content
The curriculum which controls teacher training and the content
taught in schools is at the root of Somalia’s educational problems. There will
be no order in the education system, nor will there be the provision of quality
education if the curriculum is not redesigned. As it stands, the involvement of
several opposing players in the curriculum and assessment processes creates
incoherent national tests and teachers' training.
Language as a medium is one of the most incoherent and contentious
aspects of the curriculum. The fragmentation of the medium of teaching in
Somalia precedes the political upheaval of 1991. The current education system
is reflective of the uncoordinated and sometimes conflicting medium of
instruction of the pre-1972 era before the adoption of the Somali language.
The inability to establish a single national language of teaching
stifles the creation of a consistent curriculum and the training of qualified
teachers. Failure to address these incoherences and misalignments can trap the
country in a state of perpetual mediocrity, low accountability, and high
educational inequality.
Demand vs Popular
Societies take immense pride in their high-level human workforce.
Graduates are expected to leave colleges armed with a core of relevant
knowledge and the capacity to use this knowledge.
Most graduates in Somalia are generalists with broad socioeconomic
knowledge but no specialized technical skills. There is a clear discrepancy
between the aptitudes of many graduates and what the market requires.
The trouble is that private universities frequently offer courses
that appeal to students rather than what the market requires. Few universities
provide degree programs that are popular with students yet are essential for
the country. For instance, fisheries and agriculture are highly relevant, yet
very unpopular. Whereas business administration is the most popular degree
program among students nationwide, and yet there is no demand for it.
As a result, despite high youth unemployment, significant
technological and human capital is imported from neighboring nations. We
import workers from Kenya for our hotels and for the entire hospitality sector.
We have physicians and engineers, but the technical workforce that allows the
work to be done or does the actual hands-on labor come from other countries.
Most university curricula do not encourage aptitude for
problem-solving, critical thinking, creative writing, or other creative skills.
To address these issues, institutions must reconsider their curriculum and make
it more relevant to the local context. Graduates must be required to have a minimum set of skills such as the ability to communicate effectively, the
capacity to work in a team, interpersonal skills, and being fluent in their
chosen foreign language.
The disparity between higher education in Somalia and its
socioeconomic progress has placed doubt on the relevance and impact of
Somalia’s higher education institutions. The mismatch between knowledge gained
from higher education institutions and the soft skills necessary for society to
positively drive its quest towards socio-economic development maintains this
skepticism.
Finally, the higher education sector in Somalia has seen
substantial expansion, given the initial circumstances and recent history of
the country, this quick expansion has many positive features, but it also
raises major questions about the quality of education offered. Considering the
seriousness of the challenges facing higher education in Somalia and the
limited engagement and control of governing bodies, this concern necessitates a
prompt response.
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