They want guns, not sums
DHOBLEY: Adan Abdi worries that the pupils in his class show too little interest in education.
That might be a common complaint among teachers, but Abdi’s concerns go further: his pupils are interested in playing war.
Abdi is a teacher in southern Somalia, a region that has been dominated by militia violence for years.
“Students here are not so much interested in learning because they can see a lot of people carrying guns,” said the 22-year-old English teacher.
“Small guys like them are carrying guns when they go from (school) to their houses… they pretend to be fighting, using sticks like guns.
“That’s what they have in their hearts, the intention that they will fight when they grow older,” Abdi said.
Unicef says an entire generation of children has grown up knowing only conflict and fighting in many parts of Somalia, and possibly thousands of children have been trained in combat.
Sikander Khan, head of the UN children’s agency in Somalia, says there is a great need to invest in Somalia’s youth in order to give long-term peace a chance to prevail.
“We need to make sure that this generation receives quality basic education, access to social services and protection from violence and abuse,” he said.
“This will stop them being sucked into the continuing violence and they will then be able to make a positive and lasting contribution to the future of Somalia.”
Many children in Somalia have little or no education.
Only about a third of those of primary school age are enrolled in school, according to Unicef.
Many are forced to join armed groups such as the al- Qaeda-linked al-shabaab.
Schools have also come under attack.
“It is estimated that thousands of children have been trained in the use of arms and other skills related to combat.
“Reports from our partners indicate that in recent months there has been an increase in the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by warring partners,” Khan said.
Mohamed Deq Nur, a 14year-old pupil in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, said he remembered 2006 especially because that year, a whole month went by without his hearing a single gunshot.
That year, a group called the Islamic Courts Union brought some semblance of order when it took control of Somalia and tried to enforce its strict interpretation of sharia (Islamic law). MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed at least four people inside the presidential palace compound in the Somali capital yesterday, according to the police, the AU and al-shabaab insurgents.
While al-shabaab pulled out of the capital in August and AU forces have been securing neighbourhoods vacated by the Islamist rebels, the coastal city remains prone to regular attacks by suicide bombers, and roadside explosions.
Reports of the number killed by the blast differed.
Al-shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying 17 people were killed and 30 wounded.
“What a victory, inside the so-called presidential palace. More explosions and bombers will follow,” al-shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said.
Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the AU’S Amisom peacekeeping force in Somalia, said four people had been killed.
A police spokesman, on the other hand, said five had been killed and 10 wounded.
Since withdrawing from the capital, al-shabaab has come under increased pressure in the south and centre of the country from Kenyan and Ethiopian forces fighting alongside government soldiers and progovernment militias.
Amisom hopes to drive alShabaab out of these regions by August, when the UNbacked government’s mandate expires. – Reuters