BELIEVING TO STUDY AT HOME

This brief opinion is contributed by: Mohamed Omar Ahmed, 15 September, 2014.

After the collapse of our central government of Somalia in 1991, many Somalis flew and went out of the country to the neighboring countries and far away America for business and studying purposes alike.

For some years, a number of them returned back home with their skills, knowledge and capital that led many societal sectors in the country to get on again in one hand, while the locals felt pressures from them when it comes to the market of opportunities, on the other hand. Having noted that; what contributed for me to consider this opinion piece entitled: ‘believing to study at home’ are grounded in some elements as discussed below.

By today, the world is a global village, where you can find everything you might required can be found so easily by your side, like the internet setups, in the meantime, it can make the work easier for the local student(s) to access for learning any university on the other planet of his university contains some sort of understanding with.

Relatively, I know that locals, especially students with degrees in various disciplines and fields for master’s proceedings have mastered that art. By considering to some scholars, it is highly appreciated and acknowledged for the fresh leaving secondary school student to study at local in his/her first degree to the fact that it is less cost and more friendly, but, the otherwise, it goes with high costs and maintaining with people of diverse cultures and religions in which such a young and fresh student cannot cope-up with at certain point.

Comparisons the outside knowledge with the home knowledge remains deceptive, but something is clear that; local students have got victories already over the outsiders at highly dignified positions for the country and the people that put forward by the international and local hiring entities as far as Somali and non-Somali experts are concerned and that is not an exaggeration.

However, the local universities have been doing a good job on the ground so far, for example, conducting researches, training government personals, launching new important faculties and learning institutes each and every academic year with the little help from the international community and the other stakeholders respectively.

For me, I’m a local student with a degree in Development studies at Puntland state University (PSU) and high diploma in Education at Garowe teachers’ college in Garowe (GTEC), from there, I realized the real meaning of being local student, despite my will of going outside to study some years back.

Much have been made by the local universities, but yet much is needed to be done over the next months and years in drafting a standardized and materialized curriculum for the students, bringing new important faculties and courses with trained instructors, and placing master programmes to bring-out an equipped student with skills and knowledge which is globally accepted, not with the collaborations of the other foreign universities.

In conclusion, the road of successes is too long, but to reach the intended results so easily, it is required a collective efforts and commitments from all stakeholders for our universities’ betterment and Home-is-Home.

 Mohamed Omar Ahmed,

 Lives in Garowe and can be reached at:  Mohamedomaryare22@gmail.com,Cell phone: +252907593839 and Follow-on Twitter: @mohamedomaryare.