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Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls' Education In GENDER EQUALITY: PSYCHO-SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ON GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN SOMALIA. By FARHIA ABDI Integrated Studies Project Submitted to Dr. Angela Specht in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta October, 2015 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...3 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….4 Introduction…………………………………………………………………..5-8 Methodology…………………………………………………………………..9 PART ONE: Historical Preview of Somali Culture & Education Stages A) Pre-colonial Era…………………………………………………….10-12 B) Colonial Era……………………………………………………… 13-14 C) Post-Independence………………………………………………….15-18 PART TWO: Cultural and religious interconnectedness with access and the constraints to gender biased education…………………………………………………………19-27 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….....28-29 Recommendations………………………………………………………………30-32 References……………………………………………………………………...33-38 Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 2 Abstract: Cultural practices and religious conditions inform the social norms, politics, and bureaucratic frameworks that Somali women must negotiate to achieve their respective educational goals. The available literature regarding Somalia’s educational conditions indicate high illiteracy rates, especially among women due to gendered education that discriminates against women and girls. Part one of this study examines the context of pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence conditions and how these influenced Somalia’s cultural and educational practices. Given the complex conditions that restrict Somali women’s ability to access education, part two of this thesis investigates which cultural and religious conditions are intertwined with access and also serve as constraints to gender biased education. Strategic educational interventions could help women to achieve greater equality; therefore, this thesis searches for potential solutions to enable female education in Somalia. Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 3 Acknowledgment: I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Angela Specht, whose expertise, understanding, and patience, added considerably to my graduate experience. I appreciate her vast knowledge and skill in many areas (e.g., education, governance and culture), and her assistance in supporting some of my own published articles. Dr. Specht's support in every aspect of my academic growth has motivated me to continue with my education endeavor. I would also like to thank MAIS office staff, in particular, Janice Day, whose support and quick responses to my inquiries greatly helped in facilitating my work. Very special thanks go out to my friends and colleague Kon Madut and Abdirizak Karod whose support and guidance early on my study gave me the motivation and the strength I needed. I appreciate their enthusiasm, and I owe them my eternal gratitude. Finally, I would also like to thank my beautiful children Aman and Hanad Adan without whose love, encouragement and support I would not have finished this project. They are my guiding-light, and I love them very much. I would like to extend my gratitude to my sister Laila Abdi who has been my rock, and who made it easier for me to continue with my dreams. She has always been there for me, especially when I needed her the most and for that I am grateful. Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 4 Introduction “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Nelson Mandela Literacy is considered a key foundation for sustainable development, thus it has a significant influence for building individual and community capacity as well as reducing poverty. Scholars have cited that literature has a potential to empower, enrich and enlighten people who are powerless, and in doing so, it enhances the dignity of human beings. The concept of the right to education has long been established and revised in international conventions and declarations like: Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 28, UNICEF, 49) and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 26). Indeed Africa set continental education targets, amongst others, to achieve Universal Basic Education [UBE] by 1980 at a 1961 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (UNESCO, Ch.1, 3). These conventions and declarations illustrate that there is an understanding around the world that education is indispensable for the elimination of illiteracy and elevating nations and populations out of poverty. Overall, according to Jandhyala B. G.Tilak however, World enrolments in all levels of education increased five-fold, from about 227 million in 1950 to 1.1 billion by 1995. The number of adult literates in the world trebled from 1.1 billion in 1960 to above three billion in 1995. More than 60 per cent of the world population in the age group 6-24 is currently in schools and colleges, as compared to the one-fourth who were in schools about four decades ago. The number of teachers increased by 6.6 times from 7.9 million in 1950 to Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 5 52.3 million in 1995. Public expenditure on education increased by about 24 times from $54 billion in 1960 to $1.3 trillion (in current prices) in 1994 (223). Nevertheless, how education is deployed and dealt with is very differently on each continent and indeed in each country. Though Tilak’s study does not address gender inequality extensively, it does illustrate that in Asia women are lacking behind men in education. Gender inequality in Africa’s education system, particularly in Somalia may show greater variation as education is gendered and largely practices along traditional lines. For example, “women’s secret associations and the homestead were the means through which societies ensured the successful transmission of its values and traditions to girls and young women, and graduation was almost nearly a guarantee” (Falola and Amponsah, 101). Somalia is located in North-Eastern Africa and has a population of about 8 to 10 million people. Somalia was colonized by a series of European imperialists: the British, Italians, and French. The North of Somalia gained its independence on June 26, 1960. Five days later, July 1st, it merged with the South, forming the Somali Republic. In ethnic terms, scholars like Lee Cassanelli, I. M. Lewis, Nina J. Fitzgerald, and David D. Laitin considered Somalis as a homogeneous society. Scholars believe Somali people share the same culture, language, religion, and are divided along clan lines. A majority of Somalis are described as a nomadic pastoral society whose “politics lie in kinship and are composed of men who trace descent through a common male ancestor from whom they take their corporate name” (Lewis 4). Furthermore, in terms of religion, Somalis are 99.9% Muslim Sunni, which have strong ties with the Islamic world in Africa and Arabia. Although there are no consensuses, some scholars believe Somalis have Arabian and African mix heritage. However, the British Anthropologist I.M. Lewis (5) believes, “Somali Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 6 genealogies go back to Arabian origins, to the Prophet Mohamed’s lineage of Quraysh and those of his companions. Yet, they do not think of themselves as Arabs, except in religion, as culturally Arabian” (Lewis, 4). U.S. Department of State: Bureau of African Affairs adds more holistic view on Somalia’s history: Today, about 60% of all Somalis are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists who raise cattle, camels, sheep, and goats. About 25% of the population is settled farmers who live mainly in the fertile agricultural zone between the Juba and Shabelle Rivers in southern Somalia. The remainder of the population (15% - 20%) is urban. Sizable ethnic groups in the country include Bantu agricultural workers, several thousand Arabs and some hundreds of Indians and Pakistanis which all speak Somali Language (2008, N.pag). Somalia’s education system is relatively informal. Communal interaction does predate the colonial era, and is required to be studied within its cultural context. In the pre-colonial era, education was mostly based in Islamic (Koran) teaching that was fairly instructed to both genders, but boys were often given more attention and priority. Daphne Williams Ntiri explains, “Traditionally, Koranic education started twelve centuries ago and catered mostly to men…Women's educational needs were left largely unaddressed” (Ntiri, 1). However, during the colonial era (mid-late19th century), British and Italian colonizers slowly and steadily established formal programs of learning, and though the education system “differed and tremendous efforts had to be expended in later years to integrate both systems for national use” (Ntiri, 2). Colonial education teachings were negligible and it was oriented toward meeting the basic needs of the colonizers, particularly in communication and other duties that were required for maintaining the order of the colony, whether it is translating the local language, Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali. Page 7 communicating with the community, or office duties. As Mudimbe and Bayart suggested, “colonial educations were limited in scope and were essentially designed for the purposes of social and economic motives of colonialism in Africa, which have been presented
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