Dr_Osman Posted January 11, 2012 Opinion: Puntland College makes a difference in Somalia Published March 10, 2011 By Dave Talmage PUNTLAND, Somalia, March 10 -- Here in United States we spend more private and government funds on education than any other country in the world. There are multiple public and private schools for single communities and the educational opportunities seem somewhat endless. Teachers are trained everyday in colleges around the country and most citizens have grown up with access to an education. Though, for many in the developing world finding a school or a formally trained teacher in a city or sometimes-entire country can be nearly impossible. In the Horn of Africa, in one of the most violent failed states of Africa, one territory in Somalia is making efforts to increase the number of formally trained teachers to help educate the youth of Somalia. In the heart of Puntland in the northernmost territory of Somalia sits the Garowe Teachers Education College (GTEC), a place where individuals in Puntland, mainly women, are being formally trained as educators. The initiative, which developed in 2000, was a community response to the poor level of educators in Puntland and all of Somalia. Due to a devastating civil war and extremist groups that have crippled the education system in most of Somalia, the country is left with very few formal schools and formally educated teachers. Today in southern Somalia there is still an absence of any real teaching initiatives. Much of the region is controlled by terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab. The current conflicts mixed with a devastating civil war and these local extremist groups have made progress impossible for a successful education infrastructure in parts of Somalia. But in northern Somalia the territory of Puntland has experienced fewer acts violence and oppression over the past decade than most of the country. Today the GTEC looks to help reverse the current education situation in all of Somalia. Its aim is to educate the youth and provide easy access and formal training to individuals. These educators can then go out and teach in schools around Somalia in hopes to improve the educational situation in Somalia and one day help make a good education more easily available throughout the country. The goal of GTEC is simple. To provide individuals improved access to quality primary education. They do this by training individuals as qualified teachers with the skills needed to meet the ever-growing demands of education. In a broader sense the GTEC is aiming not only to help educate the Puntland territory but aims to help the overall state of education in all of Somalia. The Garowe Teachers Education College has been running since 2005 and has since graduated hundreds of formally trained teachers. It was an initiative that started in 2000 with assistance from the DIAKONIA World Federation. In 2007 the first cluster of student teachers were able to graduate with their degrees from the Garowe Teacher’s Education College (GTEC). Their goal was to educate the young children of Somalia. Since then the GTEC has continued to graduate and increase more qualified teachers to go out and educate the youth of Somalia. In the upcoming year another graduating class looks to go out and continue the work of those who have graduated before them. The college hopes that through education and their new graduates they can “ease ignorance’ in Somalia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr_Osman Posted January 11, 2012 Please note that garowe is currently building Somalia Largest Medical Institute where my doctors and yours will be trained quite similar to the carmo police academy or GTECH or even the marine institute. One thing is for sure Puntland is all about building state institutions!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
