(ERGO) – Tired of fruitless job hunting, university graduate Fartun Abdirahman Adan, 25, opened Al-Najah pre-school school in Garowe a year ago, with 40 children under the age of six.
“The children learn Koran, Islamic studies, Arabic, Somali, English, mathematics, science and social studies. They take all these lessons to prepare well for entry to schools,” she said.
Fartun graduated in Islamic jurisprudence in 2019 but couldn’t get a job despite sending numerous job applications over two years. As a woman, she felt was not treated equally with men applying for the same vacancies.
“I applied for many jobs and never got the chance to work. There was a time I applied for a job and was selected and when I was getting ready to start work I found out a male had been picked instead. It was painful. I rely on God and never give up,” she said.
Fartun decided to open her own business to support her family. She employed three other women as teachers on $60 a month pay.
“Educated people dream of getting office jobs, and in a way it’s their right to get jobs so they shouldn’t stop looking. But they shouldn’t depend entirely on those scarce opportunities. People should start from their own homes and build their own businesses,” she said.
She encourages graduates to seek self-employment opportunities instead of just applying for jobs. Since starting her nursery school, she has been paying $70 school fees for her two younger siblings.
“My family is happy with my progress since I’ve also been able to support them. I am the only one working in my family and I get to support my younger siblings. I used to worry about my career but I don’t worry now,” she said.
During her four-year course at university, Fartun’s mother sold bread to raise her fees. She helped her mother after her classes.
“Sometimes we couldn’t afford the books and I borrowed books from my classmates to read at night and I performed well in the exams. They asked did so well without any books!” she said.
Fartun also offers home schooling services and earns $1,000 a month from her morning pre-school and afternoon home tuition.
This school was opened last May when she and her teaching colleagues secured $3,000 funding from Puntland Development and Research Centre. She was already running online lessons for children and older people
