International Blue Crescent is one of the few organizations that are helping Somali pupils and their teachers with conducive learning materials.
It has distributed conducive learning materials to 2,000 pupils and their teachers in Somalia. This contained pencils, exercise books, rubber, pencil sharpener, compass, a ruler and a school bag. This improved the morale of the pupils who could not afford to buy these materials. This project was donated by IBC and implemented by Islamic Relief Somalia (IRS).
Somalia is a country with a worst case of illiteracy. The percentage of illiteracy is a staggering high figure that you can’t imagine. Most young children go to Quranic schools like the one shown aside. There is no formal education and this is even severe in rural areas. To get a primary education in Somalia is something got by a lucky person. Primary Education in other parts of the world begins at the age of six and under normal progression it is an eight years programme that ends with external examination. This is sometimes a national assessment for every country and is compulsory for every child to sit for it in order to qualify to enroll for a secondary school education.
All school going age children should access primary education with or without barriers. However, in Somalia, access to formal education is handicapped by several barriers such as poverty, hunger, and poor progression of children in the system. Even in the small number that has enrolled has noted a high repetition and dropout rate in the school system with low enrolments because parents cannot not afford to pay for their school fees and buy learning materials while their homes have no food to feed them before and after school. Provision of relevant, quality and affordable education and training opportunities for the entire populace of Somalia is inevitable in order to develop all positive aspects of life for self reliance, social and economic development and global competitiveness.
