Policies

The Waxbar Caruurtaada – Educate Your Children

Context and Issue

Somalia's education system faces severe challenges, resulting in one of the world's lowest school enrolment rates, with only 42% of primary school-aged children attending. Despite recent improvements, significant disparities persist across all regions, especially in rural areas like south-central Somalia, where teacher shortages and inadequate facilities hinder quality education. 

Solution

The Waxbar Caruurtaada – Educate Your Children! The project aimed to support marginalized out-of-school children (OOSC), focusing on remote communities in Sool, Sanaag, Toghdeer, and Mogadishu. CARE collaborated with 258 schools to construct 12 new schools, renovate 265 classrooms, provide water and sanitation facilities to 62 schools, and furnish 103 primary schools with learning materials. Additionally, the project offered 1,500 girls conditional education grants to strengthen education authorities' capacity, train Community Education Committees, improve the curriculum, and recruit and support teachers at various levels. The project emphasizes ongoing monitoring to track children's enrolment throughout the cycle.

Impact 

In terms the output, the intervention has successfully enrolled 33,069 out-of-school children and strengthened school governance through training 79 Community Education Committees. Additionally, it supported vulnerable children with scholarships and uniforms, trained 219 teachers, and improved infrastructure by constructing or rehabilitating 97 schools and 299 classrooms and enhancing sanitation facilities. These achievements highlight the project's comprehensive approach to addressing educational challenges in Somalia. 

Analysis

The project demonstrates a holistic approach to addressing Somalia's education crisis by focusing on infrastructure, teacher training, community engagement, and girls' education. However, ongoing monitoring and collaboration with stakeholders will be crucial for long-term success and scalability, ensuring equitable access to quality education for all children in Somalia. Moreover, such inventions should also be explored from a lens beyond enrollment rate to understand long-term sustainability and graduation of students to be part of higher education or labor market