Somali Activities

Somalia Koranic schools chains
Figure 1.--Militant groups like Al-Shabaab are trying to force Somalis to accept a more severe form of Islam. This photograph was taken by the African Union forces after they found these children chained in a Koranic school in Mogadishu (July 19, 2012). It apparently was a boarding school and the Imans running the school did not want the boys running away.

Somalia is not a devloped modern country. Because of the poverty and relted violence-prone Islanic fundamentalism, children in Somalia do not have modern lives. Many children work from a very early age. And large numbrs have died in the endemic famines. Religion is very importnt experience in the lives of many Somali children. Most Somalis are Muslims. Radical groups, with some foreign extremists, believe that Somalis do not take Islam seriouly enough and are attempting by violence to make the popultion conform to their view of Islam. Very few Somalis were educated until modern times. Some boys were educated in the madrsahs, but no girls. Here they learned the Koran, but no modern skills tht might help build aorodycruve country. Iliteracy was very high. After independence, Somalia attempted to build a modern, secular educational system. Following the failed war with Ethiopia and the outbreak of the civil war (1991), the educational system fell apart. Community education committees made an effort. And there are two autonomous regions Puntkand and Somaliland). The education system, never strong in the first place, disentegrated, peoblems include the lack of rural schools, Islamic resistance to educating girls, lack of resources and facilities, weak curricula, educational standards and controls,and many others. The lack of financing makes it difficult to address these problems, although some like attitudes toward girls is not a financial matter. The Ministry of Education is still officially responsible for education in Somalia, and oversees the nation's primary, secondary, technical and vocational schools, as well as other functions. About 15 percent of the Somali government's budget is allocated toward education, but the economy is so unproduvtive that rthe available resources are very limited. As in many Muslim countries, there is very limited sport. This is in part a matter of poverty, but Islam is another factor. Girls almost never participate in sport.








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Created: 8:24 AM 6/1/2013
Last updated: 8:24 AM 6/1/2013