Exams at IBC Schools. All the students are IDP children who have never witnessed such an opportunity in Somalia. They have never thought they will study in a formal school in their life time with standardized exams like other formal schools.
There are two forms of schools in Somalia; those owned by private organizations whereby fees are collected from the students and those funded by Local and International NGOs. The former has a standardized system whereby pupils are examined at the end of a certain stipulated period and progress to the upper class as the formal education system. The later is informal in that the students do not progress from one standard to the other. In fact all the students in the whole school may be in one class whether they are in kindergarten, lower primary or intermediate. You may never even graduate from the school and if you do, you have nowhere to graduate to. These are the norms of most IDP schools in Somalia. That was the reason IDP schools were not successful in Somalia. IBC has embarked to change that habit and established a standardized formal school for IDP children. It changed their hope into reality.
IBC increased access to inclusive quality education for children, youth and adults in humanitarian settings. It integrated life-saving practices in formal and non-formal education. It supported the establishment & strengthening of education systems & structures in emergency affected areas.
International Blue Crescent is one of the few organizations that are helping Somali pupils and their teachers. IBC interventions succeeded in strengthening the basic education sector capacity and promoting protection. International Blue Crescent offered a key basic education intervention that aimed to allow all young generation in the camps to take advantage of the educational opportunities available. When IBC started these activities the camps were facing severe drought and famine that has affected the entire community and its neighboring Villages and Mogadishu at large. The drought claimed the lives of many people and thousands of livestock. The trend was degenerating and it was threatening thousands of other lives.
The people of IDP camps were facing severe struggles ranging from starvation, malnutrition, and inaccessibility to clean water, extreme poverty and a weakened economy. Due to this persistent drought there was increasing dropout of pastoralists to seek alternative livelihood in rural villages or live as squatters in town peripheries. Consequently demand for education services in Mogadishu town has increased triple fold causing congestion in school classrooms. The impact of activities on community participation is positive and promising. The involvement of communities has helped increase the demand for education and, to a more limited extent, the quality of schooling.
All these programs were aimed at increasing access to basic free education for IDP children in four IDP camps, improving the quality of education, integrating essential services and life-saving messages into formal and non-formal education, supporting establishment and strengthening of education systems, structures and policies in affected areas, supporting 200 teachers in 52 schools through payment of incentives to enhance and sustain the schools, diverting the young generation from brutal activity into the academic performance and brighten their future life, preparing the upcoming young generations to become the leaders of tomorrow. They have got the right to be taught to become future leaders, achieving mobilization of community towards education and establishment of academic centers, serving the community of the area to meet and exchange ideas on how they can improve their conditions of living. Most importantly, the organization will help promote peace and unity among themselves, improving school management in 4 communities by supporting and training for Community Education Committees in targeted schools.
