Background
Somalia is rebuilding its education system after decades of civil war. Increasing access to quality education is a key priority of the 2018-2020 Education Sector Strategic Plan. The 2017 Education Sector Analysis indicated that only 22% of children are enrolled in school in south-central Somalia, with lower enrollment rates among girls and rural children. Only 21% of the teachers are qualified.
Intervention
CARE’s Education Sector Program uses a three-pronged approach to address barriers to access and quality. At school level, the Education Sector Program provides capitation grants and brings together schools and communities to address safety and security issues and strengthen participatory management. The program provides both in-service and pre-service training for teachers as well as textbooks and national learning assessments for all schools. At the system level, the Education Sector Program develops the capacity of education officials to implement policies while providing logistical support and equipping offices at the district and regional levels. These activities contribute to enrolling and retaining 50,000 children; training 2,360 teachers; and supporting 600 schools through capitation grants and provision of learning materials.
Project achievements
The Education Sector Program conducted the first comprehensive school mapping of south-central Somalia, assessing the capacity of 1,159 schools across five states. The information generated by school mapping informs planning and support that meets school needs.
The Education Sector Program designed a national training package for Somali Community Education Committees based on best practices compiled from development partners. A total of 300 Community Education Committees were trained using the new materials.