(ERGO) – Over 550 displaced children living in nine camps on the outskirts of Baidoa have been out of school since April after the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF cut funding to local NGO, Barak, which had built and operated their school.

The sudden closure of Qaydar-ade school has left the children without education. Parent Yusuf Adan Ahmed feels distraught that his six children, who were attending the free school, are now out of class. He said he cannot afford to send them to other schools that charge five dollars per student.

“The children have gone into the wilderness; they are no longer in school. They are just sitting at home, and the school’s closure is a big problem for us. You can feel the emotion of a person whose child is not getting an education and has nowhere to take them. We want the school to be returned to us. The other schools want money and books, and we have nothing to buy them with. We are in so much trouble,” Yusuf told Radio Ergo.

Yusuf said his children had forgotten much of what they learned in the two and a half years they were in school. He feels a great loss for them and their future.

The family of 12 children struggles to make ends meet. Yusuf, who was displaced from Rabdhure in Bakool in 2022 after losing his herd and a five-hectare farm to drought, said he relies on occasional work on farms making about a dollar a day.

He said the family, which lives in a cramped, dilapidated shack, often goes to sleep hungry.

Isnino Ali Mohamed, another parent, said she is heartbroken that four of her children, who were in first, second, and third grades, are now out of school.

“We could not even afford the two dollars a month for school fees. They are not in any school and are just at home. If they had been in school like before, they would be in a better place than they are today. The fact that my children are without education and I don’t have money to take them anywhere is what saddens me,” she said.

Isnino, who was displaced from El-barde in 2023 after drought destroyed her two-hectare farm, said her family is also facing food and water shortages. They survive selling grass they collect from the wilderness and casual labour.

Her family is in $100 of debt for food and water they took on credit. With no well in the camp, her husband walks 40 to 45 minutes to fetch water. They can only afford to buy two 20-litre jerrycans a day, which is not enough for their family of 10.

The school principal, Mohamed Nur Adan, said the school was abruptly closed without prior notice after two years of operation. He said the closure had been devastating for the poor parents and their children.

“Since April, there has been a complete gap in education, and the people are very discouraged and affected. We are appealing to the Ministry of Education, the South West State government, and aid organisations to return the education to these children,” he said.

The school, which was the only one in the area, served students from different camps. It had four teachers earning $150 a month each and comprised of three classrooms and an office.

Source: Ergo