Schools can play a big role in tackling Somalia’s crisis, say aid groups

This extract is taken from Guardian Development, by Claire Provost. Views expressed are the author’s own.

Hundreds of thousands of Somali schoolchildren are expected to drop out or fail to return to classrooms in September, according to Unicef and a group of 13 other aid organisations, raising fears that the unfolding humanitarian crisis could have severe and potentially long-term effects on an already fragile education system weakened by decades of prolongued conflict and chronic underfunding.

“We’re very concerned that most schools will not reopen in September,” says Lisa Doherty, emergency education co-ordinator for Unicef in Somalia. In central and southern Somalia – where the humanitarian crisis is most acute – schools typically open shortly after Eid al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of Ramadan, which falls on 31 August this year.

But mass migrations of people both inside Somalia and across the border mean students and teachers are expected to be in short supply in many areas. According to the UN, an estimated 1.7 million people have fled famine- and drought-affected regions in search of food and life-saving assistance. Many are thought to be school-age children.

This mass displacement is expected to deal a double-blow to Somalia’s already fragile school system, leaving empty classrooms in some regions and overcrowded schools in areas where the displaced are gathering.

Earlier this month, an education-themed cluster of 14 agencies and organisations, led by Unicef and Save the Children, conducted a rapid assessment to gauge the impact of the current crisis. Their findings warned that the number of out-of-school children in southern and central Somalia is likely to double in September and that many regions are likely to see a long-term loss of school staff, with as few as 26% of teachers returning to work in some areas.

According to Unicef, well over $20m is needed to push through emergency education plans and help 435,000 children and 5,750 teachers return to school in September.

“After decades of neglect and lack of funding, the educational opportunities for school-aged children in Somalia are already dire, so it is imperative that we do everything we can to make sure the situation does not get worse,” said Rozanne Chorlton, Unicef’s representative for Somalia.

Before the current crisis, 1.8 million children under the age of 18 were already thought to be out of school. Along with Haiti, Somalia topped the Global Campaign for Education’s list of the world’s worst places to be a school child in 2010.

But making the case for education in times of crisis is no small task as international attention focuses on immediate needs such as food and water. “We often have to remind people of how critical education is in emergencies,” says Doherty, pointing to longstanding funding gaps.

Earlier this year, Unesco’s Global Monitoring Report noted that only 2% of the world’s humanitarian assistance spending goes towards education.

In Somalia, education has so far been one of the most under-funded requests of the relief effort. According to the UN, the emergency education component of the interagency consolidated appeal for Somalia has raised only $5.2m out of a required $29.4m – leaving a shortfall of 82%.

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