(ERGO) – The Puntland authorities say that more than 500 students in Bari region have been forced out of education by the closure of 36 schools due to a combination of drought and conflict.
The education ministry reported that these schools closed between last December and this March, affecting students from pastoralist families who have been displaced from their villages. They are unable to enrol in new schools due to financial hardship and lack of access.
Waris Isse Mahamed, a grandmother raising her seven orphaned grandchildren, said they hadn’t attended classes since 9 February, when their school in Dhaadaar village shut down after all the families fled due to drought and conflict.
“If children miss out on education, and there’s no good healthcare system, and no peace, what kind of life are we living?” Waris asked. “Our livestock perished. Some died on the way as we fled. We arrived here with only three goats, one male and two females.”
She is raising the children alone as her daughter, their mother, suffers from mental illness and can’t care for them.
They are living now in Tawakal displacement camp near Qandala. There is no free school in the camp and she can’t afford to send the children to fee-paying schools in the town.
“We walked for one full day and night to leave Dhaadaar,” she said. “We lost 60 goats that were our main source of income to the drought before we were displaced. Now we have nothing left.”
Her family depends on monthly food aid from the World Food Programme consisting of 20 kilograms each of flour, rice, sugar, oil, and five of dates, meant to last three months. She fears what will happen once the food runs out.
“Our ration card expires this May. If God doesn’t bring help, I don’t know where the next meal will come from.”
Since arriving in the camp, Waris built a single-room hut using clothes, sticks, and tin sheets. It’s not enough to house the whole family.
The family lived in Dhaadaar village for 16 years and never faced such extreme conditions. They were forced to flee when conflict erupted between Puntland forces and ISIS fighters, coinciding with the biting drought that was already killing their livestock.
“Displacement is worse than the life we left behind. We had something before but now it’s gone. We are facing hardship and need.”
Local shopkeepers don’t trust displaced people to repay debts, she said, so the family can’t get credit.
“When our food runs out, we go hungry. We also run out of water and have to ask neighbours for help,” she said.
More than 6,000 families have been displaced in Bari region over the past few months due to ongoing drought and the war against ISIS. Many of them lost their livelihoods and their children’s education.
Mahamed Jama Muse pulled his four children out of first and second grades at Hararyo village school at the end of March. He lost his herd of 100 goats to a mix of drought, disease, and lack of pasture and had to leave the area.
Now they are living in Abkariyo village in Balidhidin, where he worries about his children’s future.
“My children used to attend primary and Koranic school, but since we were displaced, they’ve learned nothing. No lessons, no books, no teachers,” he told Radio Ergo.
He supports a family of eight. Whilst grateful for food given by kind locals, he says it is not enough. He can’t afford to buy water at 30 cents per 20-litres, so his relatives and neighbours give him one jerrycan a day, which is enough for drinking and cooking.
“We are rural people. They say a water tanker costs $150, which is unaffordable. One container might be shared among five or 10 families. Water is scarce and expensive and life depends on it.”
Mahamed and the family live in a single tin-sheet room, paying $15 rent a month that his relatives in Bossaso help pay. He has tried to find work in farming but without success.
“I hope to join local farmers if I can ever afford land. That’s the only way I see to improve our situation,” he said.
According to the Puntland Ministry of Education, school closures occurred mostly in Bari region, with disruptions also reported in Nugal and Sanag regions.
The director of the ministry’s education and emergency affairs department, Safiyo Abdullahi Ali, said displaced children should be able to continue learning even after moving.
“We understand the impact this crisis has had on families. That’s why we have informed district and regional education officials to allow displaced students to study free of charge in their new locations,” Safiyo said.
Despite these efforts, 67% of the students affected by the school closures remain out of school due to poverty and lack of access.
“The challenge remains access,” Safiyo added. “Even when schools are open, many families cannot afford to send their children.”