Background
The profound socio-economic and political changes, including severe political instability, civil war and natural disasters have disadvantaged growth and development in Somalia. The government cannot provide previous levels of social sector financing including education, health and social welfare. At the same time, widespread poverty impels families to focus on survival and basic needs, leaving little resources for educational needs. In addition to the widespread ‘income poverty’ in Somalia there is a danger of an increase in ‘capability poverty’ if large numbers of children will not derive the benefits needed for their life from the basic education system. For illiterate and uneducated children it is hard to access and use information, make the right choices in their lives, to be healthy and economically productive, and develop their skills and knowledge for increasing their human and economic potential. The risks are higher for children who have a higher tendency to drop out from school, in particular children from poor families, minority groups, children with disabilities and girls.
The project is addressing specific problems of: lack of access to basic education, due to few existing schools especially in the rural areas; long distances from home to schools; very low transition of learners from elementary to intermediate schools in the rural areas; overcrowded classrooms; poor infrastructure and socio-cultural factors; Poor quality of basic education caused by lack of sufficiently qualified and motivated teachers and education managers; inflexible school calendar; unavailability of instructional materials; poor hygiene and sanitation facilities; poor monitoring and supervision systems and absence of motivation among the teachers; inadequate capacity of the education authorities on educational management and administration; poor management information system, no/limited budget allocation for education development; absence of any standardized systems for school management, supervision and data collection.
Project Relevance to the Needs and Constraints
SIBES Project aims at increasing enrollment rates and improving quality of education delivered to children through constructing / renovating and furnishing of schools with the required facilities for both formal and Alternative Approaches to Basic Education (AABE) schools. The action is also designed for adults including parents and CEC members to acquire basic skills of numeracy and literacy, surrounding environments, interpersonal skills and other life skills. The feat ensures that opportunities are enjoyed by all children, particularly the disadvantaged such as pastoralist children, children from the minority groups, girls and children with disabilities.
The action will in overall terms improve the quality of education through up-grading the teaching skills of teachers, provision of curricular and co-curricular materials like text books, exercise books, pen, pencils, sports facilities, among others. The project also focuses on building the capacity of education authorities at different levels and Community Education Committee (CECs). This intervention works with disadvantaged children by facilitating their access to education, helping them to increase their knowledge and capabilities. Attainment of primary education is a fundamental right of every child, helping them to improve their quality of life and coping strategies for poverty reduction. By increasing capacities and participation opportunities for children from the poor families, minority groups, children with disabilities and girls, the project prevents and directly contributes to the poverty alleviation efforts.
The SIBES project is funded by the European Union and is being implemented by a consortium of partners who include Save the Children-UK/Denmark and ADRA Somalia.
