By Shire Abdi - Reporter
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Somalia, 22 April 2026 Somalia’s education minister called for a unified education curriculum and better teacher regulation, saying federalism had hurt standardisation and oversight.
Speaking in an interview with Dawan Media’s Miizaan Podcast on Sunday, Minister of Education, Culture and Higher Education, Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, said federalism had enabled communities and private actors to expand education services across the country without proper oversight.
“Sometimes it has had a negative impact, and sometimes a positive one,” he said.
He said one of the key benefits was that communities had taken a leading role in establishing schools and universities, particularly in areas where government services were previously limited.
However, he added, the move had created challenges as schools and institutions come up with their own curriculum and examinations, compromising quality in some cases.
The minister stressed that Somalia needs to harmonise core elements of the education system, including curriculum and examinations, to improve quality standards.
“Somalia must have a unified curriculum,” he said.
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The minister raised concerns over teacher quality, calling for stricter licensing requirements and professional standards.
“One of the worrying issues is that someone can enter a school and be called a teacher without proper qualifications… This does not happen elsewhere in the world,” he said.
He said the ministry is working on plans to train teachers and introduce a formal licensing system, adding that in the future only certified teachers would be allowed to work in the sector.
He also underscored the importance of developing an integrated national data system to manage education, saying it would improve planning and allow authorities to track student movement across regions.
“Such a system would support decision-making… I will be able to know that a student moved from a school in Dhobley to Afmadow,” he said.
Abdulkadir also said higher education remains a national responsibility under the federal government, with a national-level body established to oversee the sector.
His remarks come amid ongoing debate in Somalia over the balance of powers between the federal government and member states, particularly in the delivery of public services such as education.