Education in Somalia: History, destruction, and calls for reconstruction

Abdi, Ali A.

doi:10.1080/03050069828171

Cited by 53 publications

(35 citation statements)

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“…As a preliminary point, it would be important to realize that precolonial traditional systems of learning in Africa were formulated with a tangible element of citizenship education that, among other things, explicated the different roles people had to play to effectively, if at times arbitrarily, manage the economic, political, and general environmental resources in place (see Nyerere, 1968;Rodney, 1982;Abdi, 1998). With the arrival of colonialism, though, as Nyerere (1968) and Rodney (1982) pointed out, indigenous programs of education and development were either distorted or destroyed to pave the way for colonial education which, among other objectives, was an essential item in Europe's onslaught on the African body and mind.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Democratic Development and Prospects for Citizenship Education: Theoretical Perspectives on Sub-Saharan Africa

Abdi

2008

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The case of Africa, in terms of development and democratic prospects, is encountering a number of hurdles that are stubborn, and are even getting increasingly more difficult to overcome. This paper, while agreeing with a number of leading Africanists who are calling for the efficient repair of Africa's political systems without which, I concur, other components of the national and continental enterprises may not function effectively, calls for the establishment of citizenship education programs that must strengthen Africa's partially fledgling but, in many cases, faltering new democracies. The paper cautions about accepting liberal democracy at face value and sees the possibility of selectively Africanizing democracy so it fits the needs as well as the expectations of the African public. The paper also recognizes that even if democracy may not always effectively respond to the needs of the people, its critical appreciation, via viable programs of citizenship, will, in the long run, produce better results for Africa's marginalized hundreds of millions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Democratic Development and Prospects for Citizenship Education: Theoretical Perspectives on Sub-Saharan Africa

Abdi

2008

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“…Brooks (2015) used pushing to refer to actions that increased the visibility of teachers within the community; whereas, she used pulling to refer to attempts to draw the community into school activities. Schwartz (2015) argued that a pushing/pulling strategy was a good fit for Somali educational leaders in that Abdinoor (2008) had already documented the tradition of community involvement in the provision of education as a consequence of the collapse of the Somali government after the fall of the Barre regime (Abdi, 1998;Abdinoor, 2008;Aden, 2015;Carr-Hill, 2015;Moyi, 2012). In other words, Somali educational leaders have an advantage over their Thai peers in that due to the fact that the vast majority of Somali educational institutions are now private and community-supported, less work would need to be done to establish trust within the ISSN 1948-5476 2017 community as the institution is directly a product of it.…”

Section: Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1992, Somalia was plunged into civil war when the various factions that ousted Mohamed Siyad Bare from power began to fight among themselves (Samatar, 1992). The effect of 24 years of civil war upon the Somali educational system was devastating; the entirety of Somalia's free public educational system and infrastructure were destroyed in the conflict, which had the consequence of leaving Somali children vulnerable to recruitment as child soldiers and to sexual exploitation (Abdi, 1998;Abdinoor, 2008;Cassanelli & Abdikadir, 2007). Presently, Somalia has experienced enough stability that government was established with a democratically-elected president, and this government has gained recognition from the international community.…”

Section: The Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schwartz (2015) argued that this context was appropriate in that as a consequence of the collapse of the Somali state during a period of more than 26 years of continuous internal conflict, the vast majority of Somali educational institutions are privately-run (Abdi, 1998;Abdinoor, 2008). Responding to the case through this lens had an added benefit of allowing cogent reference to previous research on educational leadership in Southern Thailand, a region which has also suffered from an almost six-decades long Islamic insurgency that has also targeted secular educational institutions for attack (Brooks, 2015;Liow, 2010;Maxcy, Sungtong, & Nguyen, 2010;Nitjarunkul, Suntong, & Placier, 2014;Othman & Wanlabeh, 2012).…”

Section: Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

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Educational Leadership During Times of Armed Conflict: Thailand’s Lessons for Somalia

Schwartz

Aden

2017

IJE

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In this theoretical paper, the authors present the results of a collaborative effort to construct a teaching case centered on the challenges of educational leadership in the context of regions affected by the Somali insurgency. Noting a paucity of research in educational leadership for institutions situated in conflict zones, the authors present findings from prior research on educational leadership conducted in the restive southern provinces of Thailand that have the potential to be successfully applied in the similar context of post-conflict Somalia. The authors posit that comparative social policy methodology might be successful in identifying common challenges educational leaders in conflict zones around the world face, and leadership strategies that address those challenges.

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“…In the late 1970s the Cambodian educational system was left in ruins with virtually no trained or experienced teaching professionals (Buckland, 2005, xi). State collapse in Somalia coupled with targeted attacks on educational infrastructure ground the country's educational system to a halt (Abdi, 1998). War and conflict also often destroy and damage schools and educational infrastructure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Quantitative Impact of Conflict on Education. UIS Technical paper; 7

2011

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The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to foster universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights and fundamental freedoms that are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.To fulfil its mandate, UNESCO performs five principal functions: 1) prospective studies on education, science, culture and communication for tomorrow's world; 2) the advancement, transfer and sharing of knowledge through research, training and teaching activities; 3) standard-setting actions for the preparation and adoption of internal instruments and statutory recommendations; 4) expertise through technical co-operation to Member States for their development policies and projects; and 5) the exchange of specialized information.UNESCO is headquartered in Paris, France. UNESCO Institute for StatisticsThe UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for global statistics in the fields of education, science and technology, culture and communication.The UIS was established in 1999. It was created to improve UNESCO's statistical programme and to develop and deliver the timely, accurate and policy-relevant statistics needed in today's increasingly complex and rapidly changing social, political and economic environments.The UIS is based in Montreal, Canada. (1 514) 343-6880 Fax:( 1 514 ©UNESCO-UIS 2011The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, its authorities, or the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.-iii - AbstractThis study examines the impact of armed conflict on the population of 25 countries, finding substantial negative effects of exposure to conflict on educational attainment and literacy. Using household survey data from Demographic and Health Surveys, as well as Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, conducted between 2000 and 2008, analysis at the national and sub-national levels reveals that conflict often leaves an unfortunate legacy for the affected generations: smaller shares of the population with formal schooling, fewer average years of education, and decreased literacy rates, which persist over time. Furthermore, in many countries existing gaps between marginalized groups, such as women, and the rest of the population worsen during conflict. The study contributes to the growing literature in this field by demonstrating the lasting impact of conflict on education for a large and diverse set of countries.

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Education in Somalia: History, destruction, and calls for reconstruction

Cited by 53 publications

References 9 publications

Democratic Development and Prospects for Citizenship Education: Theoretical Perspectives on Sub-Saharan Africa

Democratic Development and Prospects for Citizenship Education: Theoretical Perspectives on Sub-Saharan Africa

Educational Leadership During Times of Armed Conflict: Thailand’s Lessons for Somalia

The Quantitative Impact of Conflict on Education. UIS Technical paper; 7

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