The national intermediate graduation examinations have officially started across Somalia, with more than 46,000 students participating nationwide.
According to available data, the majority of candidates are boys, while girls make up a smaller proportion of the participants.
The participation of learners with disabilities remains extremely low, with fewer than 200 students with disabilities taking part in the examinations.
This highlights the significant gap in inclusive education across Somalia and the limited access that children with disabilities continue to face.
Despite investments by development partners, including the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and other donors supporting inclusive education initiatives, collaboration with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) remains inadequate.
There are more than 21 schools in Somalia that have been established and are operated by persons with disabilities, including their teaching and administrative staff, yet these institutions often receive limited recognition and engagement.
The Somalia Disability Network Disability Inclusion Coalition continues to advocate for the rights, empowerment, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Somalia, including children with disabilities and children of parents with disabilities.
Greater investment in inclusive education is urgently needed. OPDs should be given meaningful roles in planning, implementation, monitoring, and decision-making processes to ensure that education systems become accessible and inclusive for all learners.
SDN is pleased that some member schools in our consortium has participated the national exam where we work with technical disability inclusion education as well as individual teams supported by SDN focal Point Inclusive Education
The low participation of students with disabilities in the national examinations demonstrates the need for stronger commitments and practical actions to close the inclusion gap in Somalia.
