SGOXXX10.1177/2 464060158244012464060SAGE OpenMoyi 2012

SAGE Open October-December 2012 1­–9 School Enrollment and Attendance in © The Author(s) 2012 DOI: 10.1177/2158244012464060 Central South http://sgo.sagepub.com

Peter Moyi1

Abstract A civil war has raged in Somalia for the past 20 years. The civil war fragmented the country into three zones: the Central South region, , and . Puntland and Somaliland are relatively stable; however, Central South Somalia remains unstable. How has the ongoing civil war affected educational access in the Central South region of Somalia? This article examines 3,100 households, presents the extent of the access in this increasingly unstable region of Somalia, and identifies the major challenges of expanding education access.

Keywords sub-Saharan Africa, Somalia, enrollment and attendance patterns, conflict

Introduction Somaliland and Puntland have been able to establish functioning democracies and have also made gains in educa- The push for universal by 2015 has sig- tional access (UNESCO, 2011). However, the Central South nificantly increased educational enrollment in poor coun- region remains unstable; it “has been devastated by clan tries. However, the progress has been slow and uneven rivalries, disputes over government and foreign invasions” because significant obstacles still exist (Cohen, Bloom, & (UNESCO, 2011 p. 243). The instability in Central South Malin, 2006; Lewin, 2009; United Nations Educational, Somalia is undermining economic and social development. Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2010, Therefore, using the 2006 Somali Multiple Indicator 2011). Research shows that the most marginalized children Cluster Survey (MICS) data, this article seeks to examine the are those facing poverty, geographic isolation, violent con- current state of education, extend our knowledge of the pat- flict, HIV/AIDS, corruption, and discrimination (Caillods, terns of educational access in Central South Somalia, and Phillips, Poisson, & Talbot, 2006; UNESCO, 2010). One identify the major challenges of expanding education access barrier that has not received adequate attention is conflict. in this region of Somalia. Conflict-affected countries are some of the farthest away from achieving universal education (UNESCO, 2010, 2011). UNESCO (2011) reported that 18% of the children of pri- Education in Central South Somalia mary school age are found in conflict countries, yet these There are significant challenges facing schooling in Central countries account for 48% of out-of-school children. South Somalia. Despite the existence of the TFG of Somalia, Reaching children in conflict countries is now a major chal- Central South Somalia continues to experience violent con- lenge facing the international community. flict. Furthermore, unlike the other regions, it does not have Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest number of a functioning ministry of education. violent conflicts in the world (UNESCO, 2011). One of the As a result of the conflict, parents are concerned for the region’s longest conflicts is the civil war in Somalia. safety of the children on the way to school and in school. Somalia has been at war since 1991. The civil war frag- Teachers are also concerned for their own safety because mented the country into three zones: the Central South schools have been frequently targeted for attack—Students region under the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and teachers have been killed. UNESCO (2011) reported that Somaliland in the northwest, and Puntland in the northeast. “Transitional Federal Government and the Al-Shabaab Somalia has received little research and policy attention (Abdi, 1998; Moyi, 2010). The little we know about educa- 1University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA tion in Somalia is not encouraging. UNESCO (2005) Corresponding Author: reported that, “Somalia has the dismal distinction of having Peter Moyi, Department of and Policies, the world’s highest proportion of primary school-age chil- of South Carolina, 305 Wardlaw College, Columbia SC 29208, USA dren not in school” (p. 24). Email: [email protected]

Downloaded from by guest on June 4, 2016 2 SAGE Open militia have been cited by the Secretary-General for violence The questionnaires collected information on the house- directed at schools” (p. 158). Parents also keep their chil- hold, the parent or guardian, and the eligible children (6–18 dren, especially the girls, at home to protect them from years). The questionnaires were used to provide current abduction; most of the abductions take place in school information on education among school-age children, with a (Bekalo, Brophy, & Welford, 2003). Boys are used as com- focus on factors influencing household decisions about batants, and girls are used to cook and clean (O’Malley, schooling. 2010). Most trained teachers fled the civil war in Somalia; female teachers are especially scarce. The gender balance among Descriptive Statistics teachers affects whether or not girls attend school (Bekalo To better understand Central South Somalia, it is important et al., 2003; Colclough, Al-Samarrai, Rose, & Tembon, to briefly compare it with the other relatively stable regions 2003; Kirk 2003). This gender balance among teachers is of Somaliland and Puntland. Somaliland was described as especially important in a conservative Islamic country, like the “quiet success story” because it lowered child mortality Somalia. Furthermore, a 1997 survey found that 30% of rates and made sustained gains in primary education schools had no toilets, and about 90% had no running water (UNESCO, 2011). Table 1 presents household characteris- in the school compound (Bekalo et al., 2003). The limited tics by region, rural/urban residence, wealth quintiles, number of female teachers combined with the limited sanita- mother’s education, and father’s education. About 63% of tion in schools is a significant barrier to schooling for girls. the children in Central South resided in rural areas compared A unique feature of schooling in Somalia is the Koranic with about 55% in Somaliland and 67% in Puntland. About school. Koranic schools are owned and operated by the 20% of Central South residents were rural nomads compared community. They play a significant role in education espe- with about 4% in Somaliland and 15% in Puntland. The cially early childhood education (Cassanelli & Abdikadir, Central South Somalia had the largest proportion of rural 2007). They are nonformal schools1 that seek to spread nomads in Somalia. The challenges created by the frequent Islamic principles and lifestyle; however, they also teach movement in remote areas combined with the problem of arithmetic, , and (Bekalo et al., violent conflict are likely to create significant barriers to 2003; Cassanelli & Abdikadir, 2007; Morah, 2000). Despite schooling. their value in the community, Koranic schools face signifi- Table 1 also shows the socioeconomic status as measured cant challenges. Most schools lack basic facilities like by parents’ education and wealth. About 47% of the children desks, chairs, and latrines. Researchers have highlighted the in Central South were in the poorest 40% compared with quality issues facing Koranic schools (Bekalo et al., 2003; about 30% in Somaliland and 28% in Puntland. The house- Cassanelli & Abdikadir, 2007; Morah, 2000). holds in the Central South zone were poorer than those in the other regions. About 66% of the mothers in Central South reported they Data had no education compared with about 71% in Somaliland To examine the school enrollment patterns, this study uses and 61% in Puntland. About 30% of fathers in Central South the Somalia 2006 MICS. The Somalia 2006 MICS was reported no education, compared with about 49% in implemented by UNICEF Somalia in collaboration with the Somaliland and 43% in Puntland. Less than 5% of the moth- Pan-Arab Project for Family Health (PAPFAM) project of ers reported they had at least a in all the League of Arab States. The Somalia MICS 2006 is the three regions. About 43% of fathers in Central South reported third MICS survey. The first MICS, which covered only they had Koranic education compared with 9% in Somaliland Somaliland, was conducted in 1995, and the second MICS and 28% in Puntland. It is also important to note that mothers in 1999. The surveys aim to assess the situation of children and fathers in the Central South region had the lowest levels and . of primary and secondary education in Somalia. So, while it The Somalia 2006 MICS was a nationally representative is important to highlight the gap between regions, we cannot sample survey that covered 5,969 households. This study ignore the overall low levels of educational attainment uses only data from the Central South region. The sample among parents in the three regions. from this zone had about 6,226 children in 3,100 households. Children in the Central South region face conflict, pov- The sample was selected in four stages. First, a predeter- erty, inequality, and very low levels of parental education, mined number of clusters were selected in each zone— especially mothers’ education; these are formidable obsta- Somaliland (60 clusters), Puntland (60 clusters), and Central cles to schooling. Furthermore, due to their livelihood, South Somalia (130 clusters). Second, districts were selected nomads face extreme educational disadvantage. in each zone using proportional probability to size; within To generate school enrollment data, the household respon- the districts, permanent and temporary settlements were dents were asked the following question: “Has (name) ever selected. The temporary settlements were included to ensure attended school or ?” Those who reported they had they included nomads. Third, clusters were selected within enrolled in school were further asked if it was a formal or settlements. Finally, households were randomly selected. Koranic school. Table 2 presents the enrollment status of

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Table 1. Household Characteristics by Region in Somalia Table 3 presents the enrollment data, by gender and place Somaliland Puntland Central South of residence, for children in Central South Somalia. The gaps were not only between rural and urban households, but also Rural/urban residence between girls and boys. Table 3 also shows there is very low Urban 45.31 32.60 36.62 formal-school enrollment. Less than 20% of girls and boys Rural sedentary 50.54 52.16 43.59 in rural areas reported they had enrolled in formal school. Rural nomad 4.15 15.25 19.79 Less than 46% of girls and boys in urban areas reported they Total 100 100 100 Wealth quintiles had enrolled in school. This is not surprising given region’s Poorest 15.61 14.17 22.80 ongoing conflict. It is likely that rural areas had few func- Second 14.57 13.46 23.23 tioning formal schools left; this may explain the higher Middle 18.19 21.37 20.34 enrollment in the nonformal, community-supported Koranic Fourth 24.36 29.06 16.61 schools. Furthermore, Bekalo et al. (2003) also found, “many Richest 27.26 21.95 17.02 children do not attend formal school not only because it is Total 100 100 100 unavailable, but also it is not sufficiently flexible to meet Mother’s education level their particular needs” (p. 470). None 70.53 60.90 65.87 The place of residence is a strong indicator of school Koranic 9.12 21.12 19.06 enrollment of girls and boys. About 3% of nomadic girls Primary 15.93 13.46 11.07 reported they had enrolled in formal school compared with Secondary + 4.42 4.52 4.00 39% in urban areas. For boys, about 4% of those from Total 100 100 100 nomadic households reported they enrolled in school com- Father’s education level pared with 45% of those from urban households. About 72% None 48.87 42.57 29.95 of nomadic girls and 53% of nomadic boys reported they had Koranic 9.29 27.99 43.42 never enrolled in school compared with 28% of urban girls Primary 18.21 13.32 15.32 and 16% of urban boys. Secondary+ 23.63 16.12 11.32 Majority of children reported they had enrolled in Koranic Total 100 100 100 schools. However, there is also a gender gap in Koranic schools. For example, about 24% of rural sedentary girls reported they had enrolled in Koranic schools compared with girls and boys in the three regions of Somalia. The statistics 42% of rural sedentary boys. Among the nomads, about 25% show a large gender and regional gap in school enrollment. of girls reported they had enrolled compared with 44% of About 47% of girls, compared with 29% of boys, had never boys. In summary, Table 3 shows there is limited school enrolled in school. This gap was evident in all three zones in enrollment in the Central South region of Somalia. Somalia, but the gap is largest in the Central South zone. Furthermore, the situation was more acute when we exam- From Table 2, we can see that the Central South region had ined the data by gender and place of residence. The most lowest proportion of children enrolled in formal school. For disadvantaged group was the rural nomad, especially girls. example, about 17% of girls reported they were enrolled in Table 4 presents the enrollment data, by gender and formal school compared with about 42% and 30% in wealth quintiles, for children in Central South Somalia. Somaliland and Puntland, respectively. Conversely, the There was a large gap in school enrollment between the poor Central South region had about the highest proportion of and wealthy households. About 76% of girls and 51% of children enrolled in Koranic schools. boys in the poorest quintiles reported they had not enrolled

Table 2. Enrollment Status of Children by Gender and Region in Somalia

Never enrolled Formal school Koranic school Total Girls Somaliland 43.78 41.89 14.34 100 Puntland 36.45 29.82 33.73 100 Central south 50.07 17.41 32.52 100 Total 46.87 25.46 27.68 100 Boys Somaliland 31.19 54.61 14.2 100 Puntland 26.08 31.56 42.36 100 Central south 27.9 18.33 53.77 100 Total 28.59 29.37 42.04 100

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Table 3. School Enrollment in School in Central South Region by Gender and Household Residence

Urban Rural sedentary Rural nomadic Girls Never enrolled 27.54 60.96 71.88 Formal school 39.17 15.36 2.68 Koranic school 33.29 23.68 25.44 Total 100 100 100 Boys Never enrolled 15.55 40.32 52.79 Formal school 45.35 17.68 3.38 Koranic school 39.10 42.00 43.83 Total 100 100 100

Table 4. School Enrollment in School in Central South Region by Gender and Wealth Quintiles

Poorest Second Middle Fourth Richest Girls Never enrolled 76.04 73.55 54.32 33.06 15.63 Formal school 1.25 3.86 12.30 22.20 38.04 Koranic school 22.71 22.59 33.37 44.74 46.32 Total 100 100 100 100 100 Boys Never enrolled 51.9 42.74 29.12 18.51 7.75 Formal school 2.09 5.33 13.54 21.14 40.62 Koranic school 46.01 51.92 57.34 60.35 51.63 Total 100 100 100 100 100 in school compared with 16% of girls and 8% of boys in the Table 5. School Attendance in School in Central South Region by wealthiest quintile. It is important to note that the wealth gap Gender and Household Location was larger for girls. This gap was also evident, but smaller, when we looked at the enrollment in Koranic schools. Urban Rural sedentary Rural nomadic How many of these children actually attend school? To Girls generate school attendance data, the household respondents’ Not in school 11.66 15.41 47.82 were asked the following question: “During the (2005-2006) Formal school 49.78 34.78 3.20 school year, did (name) attend school at any time?” Table 5 Koranic school 38.56 49.81 48.99 presents the school attendance rates for Central South chil- Total 100 100 100 dren by gender and place of residence. It shows that between Boys 3% and 50% reported they had, in the 2005-2006 school Not in school 7.08 13.08 40.20 year, attended formal school compared with between 4% and Formal school 53.03 27.12 4.20 53% of boys. Rural nomads had the highest proportion of Koranic school 39.89 59.80 55.60 children who reported they had not attended school during Total 100 100 100 the year. About 48% of nomadic girls and 40% of nomadic boys were no longer attending school. Attendance rates in Koranic schools are higher, between 38% and 60%. The How do the school attendance patterns compare with the highest attendance rates in Koranic schools were found other regions? Table 7 presents the level attended for Central among the rural sedentary households. South Somalia and Somaliland. About 12% of Central South Table 6 presents the school attendance rates for Central children reported they attended primary school compared with South children by gender and wealth quintiles. The table about 57% in Somaliland. About 87% of 5- to 9-year-olds in shows a wealth gap in school attendance. About 28% of girls Central South started school in Koranic schools compared and boys in the poorest quintile were no longer in school with about 36% in Somaliland. This may be due to lack of compared with 8% girls and 6% boys in the wealthiest quin- formal school and higher number of nomads in the Central tiles. Furthermore, less than 4% of girls and boys in the poor- South region. Since the community organizes Koranic est quintiles were attending formal school compared with schools, it is likely nomads start schools that follow their about 40% in the wealthiest quintile. movements. Among 10- to 14-year-old children, about 32%

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Table 6. School Attendance in School in Central South Region by Gender and Wealth Quintiles

Poorest Second Middle Fourth Richest Girls Not in school 28.22 36.29 25.65 19.11 8.55 Formal school 2.05 7.33 22.03 27.86 40.59 Koranic school 69.73 56.38 52.31 53.03 50.86 Total 100 100 100 100 100 Boys Not in school 28.12 21.01 16.12 11.34 6.29 Formal school 3.14 5.93 16.64 25.29 42.44 Koranic school 68.73 73.06 67.25 63.37 51.27 Total 100 100 100 100 100

Table 7. Current School Level by Age Group in Central South and Somaliland

5-9 years 10-14 years 15-17 years Central South region Preschool 0.34 0.18 0.00 Primary school 12.18 31.61 41.33 0.00 0.70 12.62 High school 0.00 0.00 0.00 Koranic school 87.49 67.49 46.05 Total 100 100 100 Somaliland region Preschool 6.65 1.82 0.00 Primary school 56.78 78.52 69.99 Secondary school 0.35 1.49 14.96 High school 0.00 0.18 1.41 Koranic school 36.21 17.98 13.64 Total 100 100 100 of Central South children attended primary school compared A multinomial logistic model is an extension of logistic with about 79% in Somaliland. In all age groups, children in regression. It is extended when response variable has more Central South Somalia lagged behind their peers in than two categories. A response variable with n categories Somaliland in terms of formal school. will therefore have n − 1 equations. These equations are The descriptive statistics have presented a picture of lim- binary logistic regressions that compare one category with ited school enrollment and attendance in Central South the reference category (not attending school). The n − 1 mul- Somalia. Girls were more disadvantaged in enrollment and tinomial logit equations contrast each of the Categories 1, 2, attendance, especially rural nomadic girls. Koranic schools . . . n − 1 with Category n. serve a large proportion of school-going children, especially The reference group in the models were the children who younger children. Schooling in Central South Somalia was were not currently attending school. Therefore, the estimates characterized by low enrollment and attendance in formal indicate the effect of the explanatory variables on the prob- school, gender, and rural/urban inequality. Finally, poverty ability the child was either attending formal school or and inequality—gender, wealth, rural/urban, and nomadic/ Koranic school, relative to the probability the child was not sedentary—emerged as obstacles to universal education in attending school. The models include the following indepen- Central South Somalia. dent variables: children’s age and gender, number of children under age 5, number of 5- to 14-year-old children, gender of the head of household, place of residence (urban, rural sed- Multivariate Analysis entary, rural nomad), wealth quintiles, education of mother The multivariate analysis estimates the household character- and father (none, Koranic education, at least primary educa- istics associated with the different school attendance choices. tion). The analysis is conducted for the whole sample and Children in Central South Somalia face three basic choices: then separately for girls and boys. attend Koranic school, attend formal school, or not attend The models of school attendance are presented in Tables any school. Therefore, we used multinomial logistic regres- 8 and 9. The tables with the multivariate analysis report the sion to analyze the data. relative risk ratios (RRRs) for each variable in the model.

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Table 8. Relative Risk Ratios for Central South Children

Model 1 Model 2

Formal school Koranic school Formal school Koranic school Age groupa 10-14 years 2.052*** 0.408*** 2.126*** 0.405*** 15-17 years 0.894 0.074*** 0.903 0.072*** Female 0.686** 0.567*** 0.632*** 0.571*** Child of head of household 3.695** 0.928 3.575** 1.065 Number of children (5-14 years) 1.154** 1.038 1.139** 1.029 Number of children (0-5 years) 1.018 1.194** 0.995 1.178** Female head of household 3.097 0.908 3.095 0.880 Mother’s education levelb Koranic education 1.186 0.778 1.043 0.762 Primary education 2.454*** 0.826 1.712** 0.759 Father’s education levelc Koranic education 0.542*** 0.926 0.628** 0.911 Primary education 1.286 0.972 1.247 0.991 Place of residenced Rural sedentary 13.469*** 4.100*** 8.179*** 4.604*** Urban 28.712*** 4.546*** 6.923*** 5.302*** Wealth quintilese Second poorest 1.944 0.864 Middle 4.671*** 0.654* Second richest 6.965*** 0.610 Richest 16.132*** 1.028 N 2,186 2,186 χ2 811.153*** 885.380*** aReference group for age group is 5 to 9 years. bReference group for mother’s education is no education. cReference group for father’s education is no education. dReference group for place of residence is rural nomad. eReference group for wealth quintiles is poorest. *p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.

The RRR is the ratio of the probability of choosing one out- to note there was no statistical difference in the odds of for- come category over the probability of choosing the reference mal-school attendance between 5- to 9-year-olds and 15- to category (not attending school). A RRR that is greater than 1 17-year-olds. In the case of Koranic schooling, the odds of indicates that the predictor variable will lead to an increase Koranic school attendance reduce with age—As children got in the child being involved in that activity relative to the older they were less likely to be in Koranic schools and more child not attending school. Conversely, a RRR that is less likely to be out of school. These findings hold across both than 1 indicates that the predictor variable will lead to a models. decrease in the child being involved in that activity relative Table 8 also indicates a gender gap in current formal and to not attending school. For example, in Table 8, the RRR of Koranic school attendance among children in Central South 0.686 for female variable means that girls were less likely to Somalia. Girls were consistently less likely to attend formal attend formal school compared with boys. The RRR of 3.695 and Koranic schools; this finding was statistically significant for the child of the head of household means that the child of in both models. Model 1 indicates that the odds for girls to the head of household was more likely to attend formal attend formal school were about 32% lower than boys’ odds; school. the odds for girls to attend Koranic school were 44% lower The results indicated an age gap in school attendance than boys’ odds. Table 8 also indicates that children living in among Central South children. Children who were aged 10 households with a greater number of children aged 5 to 14 to 14 had 2 times greater odds of formal-school attendance increased the odds of formal-school attendance by 15%. than children aged 5 to 9 years; they were 2 times more likely Children of the head of household were about 4 times more to be in formal school than be out of school. It is interesting likely to attend school. The number of children in the

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Table 9. Relative Risk Ratios for Central South Girls and Boys Model 3: Girls Model 4: Boys Formal school Koranic school Formal school Koranic school Age groupa 10-14 years 2.709*** 0.373*** 1.840** 0.424*** 15-17 years 0.977 0.060*** 0.841 0.075*** Female Child of head of household 2.859 0.813 6.301** 1.412 Number of children (5-14 years) 1.224** 1.118 1.060 0.963 Number of children (0-5 years) 0.943 1.180 1.024 1.202* Female head of household 0.965 0.544 9.990* 1.769 Mother’s education levelb Koranic education 0.809 0.803 1.156 0.709 Primary education 1.024 0.629 2.686*** 0.958 Father’s education levelc Koranic education 0.498* 0.974 0.710 0.905 Primary education 1.171 1.097 1.283 0.937 Place of residenced Rural sedentary 2.102*** 4.343*** 7.427*** 4.654*** Urban 6.173** 4.113*** 10.143*** 7.150*** Wealth quintilese Second poorest 4.839 0.665 1.535 0.949 Middle 9.459** 0.425** 3.812*** 0.809 Second richest 19.077*** 0.578 4.293*** 0.567 Richest 69.615*** 1.452 6.565*** 0.632 N 808 1,378 χ2 363.627*** 539.984***

aReference group for age group is 5 to 9 years. bReference group for mother’s education is no education. cReference group for father’s education is no education. dReference group for place of residence is rural nomad. eReference group for wealth quintiles is poorest. *p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01. household also had an impact on school attendance. The quintile. The children in the second richest quintile were larger the number of children aged 5 to 14, the greater the about 7 times more likely to attend formal school than those odds of formal-school attendance. in the poorest quintile. These findings indicate that, in Children whose mothers have at least primary education Central South Somalia, wealth inequality had a greater were about 2.5 times more likely to attend formal school impact on school attendance than all other variables in the than those whose mothers reported no education. The effects model. of fathers’ education were similar but weaker and not statisti- When we controlled for household wealth, the effect cally significant. Furthermore, children whose fathers’ of place of residence reduced substantially but remained reported they only had Koranic education were about 53% statistically significant. This suggests that difficult condi- less likely to attend formal school. Children in urban areas tions in rural areas combine with poverty to hinder school were 28 times more likely than rural nomads to attend formal attendance; this means poor rural residents face double the school; rural sedentary children were 13 times more likely disadvantage. The inclusion of wealth quintiles had little than rural nomads to attend formal school. The effects were impact on the effect of age, gender, relationship to the head similar but weaker when we look at rural/urban residence of household, and the number of children aged 5 to 14. and Koranic schooling. However, controlling for wealth inequality reduced the In Model 2, we add the household wealth quintiles. effect of mothers’ education on formal-school attendance; Household wealth has a large effect and is statistically sig- the effect declined from 2.454 to 1.712. This may suggest nificant on formal-school attendance but has no statistically that some of the effects of educated mothers were due to significant effect on Koranic school attendance. Central their higher economic status. South children in the wealthiest quintile had 16 times greater The inclusion of wealth quintiles slightly increased the odds of attending formal school than those from the poorest gender gap. In Model 1, the odds of girls attending school

Downloaded from by guest on June 4, 2016 8 SAGE Open were 32% lower than boys’ odds. In Model 2, the girls’ odds education. Instead they require their children to help them were 37% lower than the boys’ odds. To examine the gender take care of the livestock and/or do housework. effects more deeply, we estimated models separately for girls However, it is important to remember that these problems and boys. From Table 9, we see that differences in the prob- of unequal access, poor quality, and inadequate financing ability of formal-school attendance between poor and were evident in Somalia even before the conflict (Bekalo et wealthy girls are greater than the differences between poor al., 2003; Cassanelli & Abdikadir, 2007; Morah, 2000; and wealthy boys. Girls from the wealthiest household were UNDP, 1998; World Bank, 2006). Therefore, the problems of 69 times more likely to attend formal school than those in the the education sector in Somalia may have been exacerbated poorest quintile. In comparison, boys’ from the wealthiest by the civil war. household were 6 times more likely to attend formal school The challenges facing children in Central South Somalia than those in the poorest quintile. However, the rural/urban are substantial. First, the level of poverty remains very high differences are greater for boys than girls. The age differ- in this region. The wealth differences are a significant ences between girls were greater than the differences between barrier to school enrollment and attendance. Yet the ongoing boys. Girls in households with a larger number of children conflict makes it difficult for any meaningful development aged 5 to 14 had greater odds of school attendance; the to take place; the conflict will make it difficult to reduce the differences for boys are not statistically significant. This inequality. The wealth inequality exacerbates the gender suggests that girls benefit from larger households because inequality in access to school; poor girls face some of they can share domestic chores to enable schooling to take the greatest obstacles to schooling. The unequal access to place. Surprisingly, boys from households with educated education for girls may not be new because the levels of mothers were 6 times more likely to attend school than those education of the mothers were also very low. About 15% of with uneducated mothers; the effect for girls with educated mothers reported they had any form of formal schooling. mothers is not statistically significant. Low education of mothers is likely to impact health In summary, wealth, rural/urban residence, age, and and education outcomes in the household. For example, mothers’ education determine school attendance. We do find children born to uneducated mothers are more likely to die that wealth differences had a greater influence on girls, but before age 5 than children born to mothers with at least rural/urban differences have a greater effect on boys. In secondary education (UNESCO, 2011). Given the ongoing Central South Somalia, differences in wealth were a signifi- conflict, it seems unlikely that Central South Somalia will cant barrier to school attendance; residing in a household in be able to reduce the levels of poverty; therefore, poverty the wealthiest quintile substantially increases the odds of will continue to be a significant barrier to schooling in the school attendance. Wealth combined with the place of resi- region. dence and mothers’ education to create layers of exclusion. Second, the region remains unstable; international efforts to stabilize Somalia led to the establishment of the TFG in . However, sharp divisions within members of Discussion the TFG and the limited assistance from the international The impact of violent conflict has been described in the lit- community has left the TFG weak and ineffective, even in erature as “de-development” (Abdi, 1998) and “development Mogadishu. The conflict makes it difficult for any meaning- in reverse” (World Bank, 2003). Research found that the ful development to take place. The education system had impact of violent conflict falls disproportionately on the poor virtually collapsed when the civil war broke out in 1991, but and marginalized in society (United Nations Development now there is the additional burden of child soldiers, orphans, Programme [UNDP], 2005). There is ample evidence that and other conflict-affected children. The limited schooling armed conflict reinforces existing obstacles associated with opportunities due to the war may explain why a high pro- poverty and gender. portion of children had either not enrolled or have dropped The descriptive and multivariate results show differences out of school. The ability of the Somaliland region to raise in the access to schooling in Central South Somalia. The dif- enrollment in lower levels may be due to the relative stabil- ferences exist in both school enrollment and attendance. ity in the region. Girls, the poor, and nomads are the most disadvantaged. A Third, Koranic schools remain prevalent in Central South girl’s access to school depends on the household socioeco- Somalia. For many children in the region, they may be the nomic status and place of residence; poverty and rural liveli- only schools they find accessible. The school enrollment and hoods combine to create significant obstacles to schooling. attendance rates were higher, and the gender and wealth Nomadic lifestyle requires travel in search of pasture for inequalities smaller in Koranic schools. However, the quality their livestock. Consequently, children never stay in the of these schools remains low—lack of qualified teachers same location for long, which makes it difficult for them to (especially female teachers), lack of physical facilities, and fit into school. Furthermore, these mostly illiterate and con- limited financial support (Cassanelli & Abdikadir, 2007; servative nomads do not attach much importance to formal Morah, 2000).

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Although the descriptive statistics showed higher rates of Cohen, J. E., Bloom, D. E., & Malin, M. B. (Eds.). (2006). Educat- formal-school attendance and lower rates of Koranic school ing all children: A global agenda. Cambridge, MA: American attendance among wealthier households, it is not entirely Academy of Arts and Sciences. clear whether the households chose to send their children to Colclough, C., Al-Samarrai, S., Rose, P., & Tembon, M. (2003). Koranic schools because they were a low-cost alternative to Achieving schooling for all in Africa: Costs, commitment and formal schools or because they wanted their children to learn gender. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. Islamic principles and culture, or both. However, in Kirk, J. (2003). Women in contexts of crisis: Gender and conflict. Somaliland, Bekalo et al. (2003) found that “many children Commissioned paper for the EFA Monitoring Report. Retrieved do not enter formal school not only because it is unavailable, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001467/146794e but also it is not sufficiently flexible to meet their particular .pdf circumstances” (p. 470). This means that Koranic schools Lewin, K. M. (2009). Access to education in sub-Saharan Africa: are not only more widely accessible but also serve the needs Patterns, problems and possibilities. Comparative Education, of the households. The needs may be religious and cultural. 45, 151-174. Given their prevalence and the wide acceptance, they may be Morah, E. U. (2000). Old institutions, new opportunities: The the most effective way to achieve the universal education in emerging nature of Koranic schools in Somaliland in the Somalia. However, it is not clear whether western donors 1990s. International Journal of Educational Development, 20, would be willing to support schools that, in part, provide 305-322. Islamic education. Moyi, P. (2012). Who goes to school? School enrollment patterns Fourth, the international community has increased aid in Somalia. International Journal of Educational Development, flows to Somalia, but large financing gaps remain (Othieno, 32, 163-171. 2008; UNESCO, 2011). Furthermore, there exists a skewed O’Malley, B. (2010). Education under attack. Paris, France: pattern of aid to conflict countries. “Strategic” countries like UNESCO. Afghanistan and Iraq receive the lion’s share of aid while Othieno, T. (2008). A new donor approach to fragile societies: The other “peripheral” conflict countries like Somalia are largely case of Somaliland (ODI, Opinion Papers 103). Retrieved from ignored (UNESCO, 2011). Given the number of out-of-school http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1903.pdf children shown in this study, substantial resources are needed United Nations Development Programme. (1998). Human Devel- to provide education to all children in Central South Somalia. opment Report. New York, NY: Author. United Nations Development Programme. (2005). Human Devel- Declaration of Conflicting Interests opment Report 2005: International cooperation at a cross- The author(s) declared that they had no conflicts of interest with roads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world. New York, respect to their authorship or the publication of this article. NY: Author. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/ 2005 Funding UNESCO. (2005). Children out of school: Measuring exclu- The author(s) received no financial support for the research, sion from primary school. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Montreal. Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/ Documents/oosc05-en.pdf Note United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 1. Koranic schools are considered “non-formal” schools in the (2010). Reaching the marginalized. EFA global monitoring study because they operate without any coordinated guidance report 2010. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. from any formal government authority; they work outside the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. framework of the formal school system. (2011). The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education. EFA global monitoring report 2011. Oxford, UK: Oxford University References Press. Abdi, A. A. (1998). Education in Somalia: History, destruction and World Bank. (2003). Breaking the conflict trap: Civil war and calls for reconstruction. Comparative Education, 34, 327-340. development policy. Washington, DC: Author. Bekalo, S. A., Brophy, M., & Welford, A. G. (2003). The develop- World Bank. (2006). Somalia: From resilience towards recovery ment of education in post-conflict “Somaliland.” International and development: A country economic memorandum for Soma- Journal of Educational Development, 23, 459-475. lia. Washington, DC: Author. Caillods, F., Phillips, M., Poisson, M., & Talbot, C. (2006). Over- coming the obstacles to EFA. UNESCO International Insti- Bio tute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://unesdoc Peter Moyi is an assistant professor of education in the Department .unesco.org/images/0018/001849/184940e.pdf of Educational Leadership and Policies, College of Education, Cassanelli, L., & Abdikadir, F. S. (2007). Somalia: Education in University of South Carolina, USA. His research interests include transition. Bildhaan: An International Journal of , children’s schooling, family structure and children’s well-being, 7, 91-125. and poverty and income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa.

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