Puntland and Federal Government Disagree Over Educational Policy

[Deeq A.]

The Somali Federal Education Minister Godah Barre told BBC Somali TV that  his government would not confer secondary school certificates on Puntland students if the Federal Member State does not oblige students to take the national secondary education examinations prepared and administered by the Federal Government.

Ismail Mohamed Warsame, the Deputy Parliamentary Speaker of Puntland urged the Education Ministry to enable students to take the National Secondary School Examinations. “The dispute is not necessarily about examinations. It is about Puntland having a role in devising educational policies. Consensus and compromise from the Federal Government and Puntland State are what can lead to the necessary outcomes” Warsame said. The Deputy Speaker alluded to political differences between Federal Government and Puntland State in addition to the disagreement over the national educational policy.

Prime Minister Kheire introducing a Social Studies textbook

The Federal Government of Somalia introduced a national curriculum one year ago.  The stick the Federal Government is using is its privilege to endorse certificates  of scholarship applicants. To many this amounts politicising educational rights of Somali students in a country that has not fully recovered from state collapse. The conciliatory tone of Puntland Deputy Parliamentary Speaker serves to  bridge the gap if the Federal Government adopts consultative approach to devising an educational policy which cannot succeed without consensus among political stakeholders.

Meanwhile Puntland Education Minister, Professor Abdullahi Mohamed Hassan, shared with the local media copy of  past agreements signed with the Federal Government in 2025 and 2017. The agreements entitle Puntland to administer examinations independently under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education. “The agreements stipulated the Federal Government will send certificates to students in Puntland in line with agreements” the Minister said

© Puntland Post Monthly, 2020 

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