The floods closed 18 free primary and secondary schools in Qallaafe and surrounding villages in Shabelle zone, leaving children facing an uncertain future.

Among those affected is Omar Sheikh Abdi Khayre, who fled from Shubo village to nearby Goobyaal area after floodwaters swept through his community.

Three of his children attending Shubo Primary and Intermediate School have not returned to class since the disaster struck in April. There is no school where they are currently living.

“The children are frustrated because their education has stopped,” Omar told Radio Ergo. “They have lost their routine and now spend their days like rural children with nothing to do.”

Omar, a father of 18 children from three households, said his family is surviving on maize and porridge distributed by the Somali Regional administration. He is uncertain how long the assistance will continue.

The floods destroyed their farmland, food stocks, a small grocery shop that provided additional income, and killed three goats and a donkey used for transport.

“I had two and a half hectares of farmland. Two hectares were planted with sesame and maize, while the remaining land produced beans and vegetables. The floodwaters took everything. I also lost food stocks and livestock. Twenty-one sacks of sesame, maize, and beans were swept away,” he said.

The 60-year-old farmer said the flooding struck at night after rising river water breached the barriers that residents had built in an attempt to protect their homes and farms.

Although he hopes to resume farming once the water recedes, he fears recovery could take months as river levels remain high. He is also worried that floodwaters could reach the area where his family is currently sheltering.

Many displaced families told Radio Ergo they are drinking contaminated floodwater because wells and other clean water sources have either been damaged or remain inaccessible.

Among them is Ibrahim Ali, who also fled Shubo and now lives in Goobyaal, about 10 kilometres from his former home. The father of 17 children said his family were sleeping under trees after escaping with little more than the clothes they were wearing.

“I am deeply worried. I used to live in a proper house, but today I live under a tree. My family is suffering. What we need most are mosquito nets, plastic sheets for shelter, food, and basic household items. We are struggling to survive and cannot cook three meals a day,” he said.

Ibrahim said seven of his children had been unable to continue their education since the floods displaced the family.

“The floods took our food, our belongings, and killed some of our livestock. We left behind everything our children used to eat and wear. A family that once had hopes and plans for the future has lost its livelihood, education, and home. It is deeply discouraging,” he said.

Most of the affected families are farmers living along the banks of the Shabelle River. Their homes, typically built from mud, grass, and corrugated iron sheets, were highly vulnerable to flooding.

The head of Qallaafe zone Disaster Risk Management Office, Mohamed Radi Nur, said the flooding that began on 15 April had affected more than 5,000 households and displaced around 1,600 families across 33 villages.

He said local authorities, working with humanitarian partners, had distributed maize and porridge to 500 displaced households while efforts continued to reach those still awaiting assistance.

“As a district administration, we have made extensive efforts to support affected communities. We distributed 250 quintals of maize to seven villages and recently received 1,068 sacks of porridge from the regional government. Additional relief support is expected in the coming days,” he said.

Mohamed noted that some villages remained cut off by floodwaters, forcing aid workers to use boats to reach isolated communities. A recent assessment by his office found that the floods destroyed 2,315 hectares of farmland, killed 348 livestock, damaged two health facilities, 18 schools, and five water wells.

Thousands of families in Qallaafe whose livelihoods have been disrupted are also very worried about the interruption of their children’s education, with uncertainty over when they can return to school.

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The schools in internal displacement camps in Bookay area north of Baidoa were providing education to around 1,500 children. The jobless teachers can no longer afford food, water, rent, or education for their own children after losing their income.

Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim, a father of eight, said unemployment had devastated his family. Gobaadegsoy primary school, which was supported by SOS Children’s Villages Somalia, closed in February. He earned $100 a month as a mathematics teacher.

“The hardest thing facing us is unemployment. For four months I have been idle because the school is closed. Our living conditions are extremely difficult now. Before was much better than today. We survive only on debt and begging,” Hassan told Radio Ergo.

Local shops have refused to give him credit to buy food until he settles his debts. He owes $400 for food and water bills.

“We are facing serious problems with water. The pipes were cut off after we failed to pay for some time. We now ask neighbours for whatever they can spare. Sometimes they refuse and we stay thirsty,” he said.

The nearest private well sells 20 litres of water for 15 US cents that he often can’t afford. His electricity has been disconnected from the family home and the landlord is demanding $120 for three months of unpaid rent before the end of May.

Hassan said relatives helped settle earlier rent arrears after he escaped eviction in March, but now the threat has returned.

The impact has extended to his own children’s education. Three of them stopped attending primary school and Koranic schools in March when he couldn’t pay the $5 monthly fees per child.

“One of the worst things for us is the children’s education. Even the school where we taught is closed and the students remain at home without lessons. Teachers are suffering badly because they have nothing to support their families,” Hassan said.

Abdimajid Ali Salad, another teacher, said the closure of War-miraale primary and middle school left his family of seven without any reliable income. He earned $200 a month teaching science at the school under a project supported by Save the Children that ended in February.

“The biggest problem for me is feeding my children. Since becoming unemployed, my family has been living in severe hardship. Food, rent, education – everything stopped when the contract ended,” Abdimajid said.

His salary covered rent, food, and school expenses for his children. Without income now, a local fresh produce shop where he accumulated a debt of $150 for food purchases has closed his account and demanded payment before extending further credit.

Abdimajid and his family were forced to leave their single room home at the end of April after he failed to pay $60 in rent arrears for two months. The landlord had given him several warnings.

“We were evicted because the landlord knew I no longer had a salary. Right now we are staying with relatives after leaving the house. Our situation is extremely difficult,” he said.

Two of his children dropped out of school in March after he failed to pay their combined monthly fees of $20. Abdimajid worries they may not return to class anytime soon.

The education coordinator for displaced communities in Boonkay, Hassan Macalin Mohamed, said the eight schools had served some of the poorest families in Baidoa, who could not otherwise afford education for their children.

“At least 1,500 children were attending these schools and now they are all out of education sitting at home,” he said. “These are poor displaced families who can’t even afford half a dollar for school fees. We hope the schools can reopen because the children have no alternative.”

Hassan said the schools’ infrastructure had deteriorated during the months of closure. He appealed to Somalia’s education authorities and humanitarian agencies to urgently restore support for the schools.

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Families have abandoned their homes in search of water and pasture, leaving schools empty across Mudug and Galgadud regions, in the districts of Adado, Galkayo, Dusamareb, Guriel, and Abudwak.

Mohamed Abdi Ahmed is among those who stayed in Haad-fuul, where his four children had been attending the local primary school. Most families left due to the worsening drought so the school closed last December.

“The drought affected us and forced the children out of school,” he said. “Many pastoralist families moved away, but we could not leave. It is very painful for me to see my children without education, and I have no means to support them.”

He cannot afford to send his children to private schools in Dhusamareb, where fees are around $10 per child. He had begun to see the progress they were making at school and hoped they would achieve a better future than his own, as he never had access to education.

His family of 10 is among about 10 other families remaining in the village, where food shortage is a daily reality. The family relies on 37 kilograms of flour, sugar, and rice received from Dhusamareb drought response committee in March, which they stretch by cooking once a day.

“Our situation is very difficult, sometimes we get food, sometimes we don’t. There are many challenges. We have no income, and it is very painful,” Mohamed told Radio Ergo.

He cannot take up manual labour due to a leg injury from an old gunshot wound. His wife has recently given birth, and their young children cannot help support the household.

The drought killed off 60 goats and five camels, leaving only 20 weak animals that no longer provide income. They also struggle to access water, as there are no functioning wells in the area, and wind driven sand dunes prevent water trucks reaching the village. A barrel of water costs around $5.

Mohamed has a long-standing debt of $2,700 owed to traders in Dusamareb that he cannot repay.

The school in Haad-fuul was established in April 2024 and had 136 students.

In another affected village, Hog-dugaag, Zeynab Mohamed Abdi’s three children are missing out on their primary classes as the school there closed too.

“Their lack of education worries me deeply. I can’t take them to town because I can’t afford the school fees or the cost of living there. This situation has made my children idle, and I fear they could go down the wrong path,” Zeynab said.

The nearest school is in Adado, about 40 kilometres away. Without income, her family of nine remain in the village despite the lack of services with just five other families.

They receive occasional support from relatives in Adado and otherwise go hungry. Her small food business that made $10 to $15 a day closed in January when all her customers left due to the drought.

“There is no business without people. Previously, I could provide for my children, but now everything is gone. If the rains return, I hope to reopen,” she said.

The local well broke down two months ago, forcing families to buy water at around $4 per barrel. She usually obtains 20 litres a day from neighbours.

Her family lost 50 goats last year due to drought and disease. Her husband has been unable to find jobs in nearby towns.

The director of planning at Galmudug state education ministry, Bashi Duale, said drought had severely disrupted efforts to expand free education in rural areas.

“Our plan was to bring education to remote communities, but drought has forced schools to close. Families are moving in search of water and pasture, and children are moving with them. Even where schools remain open, students and teachers are no longer present,” the director said.

He added that the government had been unable to prevent the school closures due to the severity of the drought. They were prioritising efforts to support affected communities whose livelihoods had collapsed.

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Parents and community leaders say the only school in the settlement offers classes only up to grade six and has just three teachers, making it impossible to accommodate the growing number of children.

The school was established by the Kenyan government in 2011, but its capacity has remained largely unchanged despite a steady rise in the population, especially as drought-affected families continue to settle in the area.

Daud Ismail Yusuf, a resident of Maleelay, said the shortage of teachers had prevented two of his childrenfrom enrolling in school.

“The problem is the lack of teachers,” he told Radio Ergo. “Without teachers there can be no education. This situation affects us greatly because we want our children to learn but there is nowhere to take them.”

Three of Daud’s children are currently enrolled in the school in grades three, four, and five, but two others who finished grade six last year were forced to stop studying because there is no secondary school nearby.

He fears that even the children still in school may face the same situation unless additional education opportunities are created.

“A child finishing grade six should be able to speak Swahili [national language in Kenya] well, but with only one teacher trying to handle several classes it is very difficult.”

The lack of teachers also affects the quality of education. According to Daud, one teacher tries to manage several classes at the same time, leaving many students without proper instruction.

Education concerns are only one of several challenges facing his family of 14 people.

Daud’s eight-hectare farm has produced nothing since last year’s rainy season because of water shortages. Crops he planted during the last Gu and Deyr seasons both failed.

To support his family he relies on small loans and a tiny shop selling drinking water, but the income is too little to cover household expenses. He says the debts he accumulated from farming inputs and family needs now exceed $1,900.

“My 90-year-old father lives with us and we are facing a very difficult life. There are no jobs here. We are not near a big town where I could find labour work. Sometimes we earn 2-3,000 shillings [$15-23 approx.], but that is not enough for a family this size,” he said.

Daud’s family moved to Maleelay in 2011 after protracted drought wiped out more than 300 goats that had supported their pastoralist livelihood. Today the settlement that began with just a few families is home to about 200 households.

Some parents have become discouraged and stopped sending their children to school. Ijabo Ahmed Aden, a mother of seven, said none are currently attending Maleelay school because of previous experience with her older children.

One of them had no chance to go to a secondary school, and two were withdrawn because she felt the education was poor.

“The older children struggled and ended up leaving school without continuing. I decided the younger ones should stay home rather than go through the same disappointment,” she said.

Her younger children, aged seven and nine, are now staying at home having completed Koranic studies. Ijabo said she can’t move to another area where schools might be available because her family has no money.

Their financial situation has worsened since food aid that was distributed to some residents close to the refugee camps was stopped mid last year, when the authorities determined that she was a Kenyan citizen and therefore not eligible for the aid.

“For many years I received food assistance. But the card I used was taken away after they said I was Kenyan. Since then life has become very difficult,” she said.

Her husband searches for casual labour every morning but rarely finds work in the area. The family moved to Maleelay 15 years ago after drought killed the 200 goats and four camels in their herd.

According to Ahmed Mohamed Aden, head of the school’s parent committee, only two of the teachers have formal teaching qualifications. The school cannot accept new students unless more teachers are assigned.

“There are far more children who need education here than those currently studying,” he said. “The main problems are the shortage of teachers and the limited number of education facilities.”

The settlement is expanding with rural families moving in hoping to access water and other basic needs.

Community leaders say they have repeatedly reported the situation to government officials and education authorities but have not received a response.

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In Goof-gudud Buurey, a district around 30 kilometres from Baidoa, local leaders say that 11 village have been severely affected by the prolonged drought that has ruined crops and killed off livestock belonging to pastoralist and farming communities.

Local chief Hussein Adan said that over 20 learning centres had been closed in this area as families lost their livelihoods, affecting at least 300 primary and middle school students.

The children’s parents, many of whom lived off rain-fed agriculture and small herds of animals, say the loss of income has left them unable to afford education, which is one of their greatest concerns for the future.

Hassan Isaq Sabri, 55, told Radio Ergo that four of his children dropped out of primary and middle school in Oflow, one of the affected villages in Goof-gudud Buurey, where drought stripped them of their livelihood and forced them to move to Baidoa.

“My children had a good education before. Because of the drought that hit us, they are now without education. The school they attended closed due to the parents’ financial hardship. We are now displaced and living in a camp. I fear my children may fall into bad habits,” Hassan said.

He cannot afford the $10 per child required by private schools in Baidoa. He had hoped his children would achieve a higher level of education than he did, having grown up in a rural area without access to schooling.

But the combination of displacement, unemployment, and hunger has shattered those aspirations. He has searched unsuccessfully for casual labour jobs in Baidoa to support his family of 13 and cover school costs. Economic hardship in the city has reduced opportunities for manual work, leaving him without income.

The family relies on occasional assistance from longer-established camp residents and are sometimes lucky to find one meal a day. Hassan said his children used to eat three meals daily when they were settled back at home.

“Getting food even once a day is difficult,” he said. “We are new here and do not know many people. Sometimes neighbours allow us to cook with them. Before, the children were well-fed. Now we have nothing.”

The family borrows 20 litres of water a day from neighbours because they can’t afford the 5,000 Somali shillings charged per barrel at a nearby private borehole. At night, the children sleep in huts belonging to other families, while the adults stay outdoors.

Hassan was a farmer who owned four hectares of rain-fed land in Oflow. Two consecutive failed rainy seasons wiped out his crops, costing him $350 in seeds alone. At the same time, 32 goats died due to lack of pasture and unfamiliar diseases.

“All our sources of income are gone. This is the hardest life we have ever faced,” he stated.

Another displaced parent, Ali Malin Hasan, has five children who have also been out of school since December. They had been in school in Arag village, where he paid a combined $30 per month in fees.

“People fled the village, and the teachers left. The school simply closed,” he said. “I cannot afford to continue their education. Their lack of schooling causes me deep distress.”

Ali’s family of 12 now lives in El-bay 1 IDP camp near Baidoa, where there are no schools. The nearest private schools charge about $50 per month. He worries that his children, who once showed strong academic potential, will forget what they learned.

“They feel discouraged when they see other children their age going to school,” he said.

The family survives on a single kilogram of food per day, which his wife obtains through begging in the city. Sometimes they go to bed hungry.

They left the rural village after their three-hectare farm failed. Crops including maize, beans, sorghum, sesame, tomatoes, and peppers planted last April dried up due to drought and pest infestation. Ali says he lost around $400 he had borrowed and invested in seeds and inputs.

The family left in December after exhausting their remaining food stocks from the previous harvest. They had hoped displacement would offer better conditions, but found instead severe food shortages.

The chairman of El-bay camp, Mohamed Aadan Ibrahim, said nearly 500 newly arrived families with school-aged children had been registered since December.

“The children have no access to education. There are no schools in the camp, and parents cannot afford private ones,” he said, adding:

“Families are facing water shortages, hunger, lack of shelter, and poor health. We have no capacity to change their situation. We appeal to aid agencies and authorities to respond.”

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The free school, established in 2016 and supported by the South West State Ministry of Education and international NGO, Save the Children, served mostly children from poor internally displaced families.

The headteacher, Sahra Aden Abdi, told Radio Ergo that the six classrooms and all the equipment were destroyed in the fire at Elej school. The fire started in a nearby displacement camp and spread rapidly. Thankfully all the children were safely evacuated.

“Everything in the school was destroyed – office equipment, classroom materials, and food supplies for the feeding programme. The people who studied here are very poor and cannot even buy shoes or clothes for their children,” she said.

The school administration lacks funds to rebuild and is still awaiting a response from Save the Children and the Ministry of Education.

For many displaced families in Baidoa, education is seen as a path out of poverty. The loss of Elej school has left hundreds of parents fearful that a rare opportunity for their children’s education has been lost for good.

Four of Ibrahim Mohamed Noor’s 10 children in Irarog displacement camp had been learning at Elej school for five years.

“My children were studying well. Their lack of education now causes me deep sadness. I cannot take them to fee-paying schools because I don’t have the money required. This situation has become a major source of worry for me, and I can’t do anything about it,” he said.

Private schools in Baidoa charge about $10 per month per child. Ibrahim is already overwhelmed by daily survival needs and has no savings to fall back on.

His family depends on limited support from neighbours in the camp, allowing them to prepare food only once a day when assistance is available. Otherwise, they frequently endure hunger.

“Getting food is very difficult for us. We are people with nothing, who cannot even prepare food once a day. Sometimes the children eat once, sometimes not at all. I am unemployed and disabled. I have looked for work but couldn’t find any,” he said.

Ibrahim previously worked as a farm labourer on the outskirts of Baidoa, earning $4 to $5 a day. He lost his job in September when prolonged drought dried up the farmland and can’t find any alternative source of income.

Life for the family is hard. They can’t afford the 6,000 Somali shillings charged per jerrycan at a privately owned borehole three kilometres away, so rely on a single jerrycan that his wife carries home after appealing to borehole owners.

Their shelter is a fragile hut that is overcrowded and unstable. They were displaced in 2018 from Doy-gaab area near Baidoa after drought destroyed the three-hectare farm that used to support them.

Other parents face similar hardships. Habibo Hussein Hassan, a mother of seven, said three of her children were studying at Elej school and now have no opportunity.

“My children are without education, and I can do nothing. School requires fees, uniforms, books, and pens, and I have no money. They had free education and were learning well. Their situation now deeply saddens me,” she said.

Habibo’s children had been enrolled in grades three and four. The school also provided free meals and learning materials, easing the burden on families living in poverty.

As a single mother, Habibo depends on irregular cleaning work in Baidoa, earning a couple of dollars once or twice a week. The income is barely enough to sustain her family of seven. She has accumulated $70 in debt to buy necessities at local shops.

“The money I owe was for food and clothes I bought for my children at different times. This debt worries me greatly, and I can’t repay it. I have no income at the moment. God is the only one who can bring a solution,” she said.

Habibo has lived in Iraroog camp for four years. Her family was displaced in 2021 from Eel-dhuun area, about 60 kilometres from Baidoa, during the last terrible wave of drought known as ‘sima’ (meaning ‘equal’) that ruined their two-hectare farm and their livelihood.

She said the free education provided by Elej school had given her and her children not only assistance but also hope for the future.

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The children, who should have joined secondary school this year, have been at home since September because their mother can’t pay the fees.

“When they were learning, I was so happy. Now that they’ve reached a higher level, the lack of resources has forced them to stop. It breaks my heart. They ask me every day to take them to school, but I can’t. Even finding something to light the fire for cooking is already difficult,” Hindiya told Radio Ergo.

Children from more than 150 families in Alla-Amin, Donyaale, Bulo-Agoon, and other displacement camps around Galkayo are unable to continue to secondary school this year.

Most families have no income to cover the monthly fees of $20 per child, nor the daily transport cost of $3 for schools located in the town. The camps is almost an hour’s walk from Galkayo, making the journey impossible for many children.

In Alla-Amin, the primary and middle school run with the support of Puntland’s Ministry of Education allowed hundreds of displaced children to study for free. But the absence of a free secondary school in or near the camp has created a dead-end for them now.

Hindiya’s household survives on scrap metal she scavenges from waste piles and sells in small quantities.

“I rely on metal I collect from the garbage. A kilo earns me 20 cents. Sometimes I collect for three days and make two or four dollars. That helps us cook once at night. The children drink tea in the morning and afternoon or eat whatever is left over from the night before. It’s not enough for three meals,” she said.

Two years ago, she had regular laundry jobs that paid $3 a day. But most of the families she worked for have now bought washing machines. Day after day, she returns home with nothing.

Salty water sold in the camp costs 50 cents per jerry can, and clean water sold in barrels costs $3. Her debts for food and water alone have reached $400.

Her children’s father left the family seven years ago, and she has borne all responsibilities since then. The family earlier fled Baraale in Bay region in 2012 due to clan conflict, abandoning their small farm.

Just a short distance away in Bulo-Agoon camp, Mulki Mohamed Ali faces the same struggle. Her teenage son and daughter, who passed primary and middle school exams, remain at home. She was unable to pay the $100 needed to start secondary, including fees, transport, books, pens, and school uniforms.

“I don’t have that amount, that’s why they’re home. If I were working it would help, but there’s no work in town. We’re waiting for God’s help,” she said.

Mulki spent eight years supporting her children through school, taking every small job she could find. Her husband is elderly and cannot contribute to the family of 11 people.

“I cook with whatever I earn from washing clothes. At best, I get four dollars a day, and even that is not enough. Some days there is work; some days there isn’t. Right now I’ve gone a whole week without a job. When things get worse, we go to the shops and ask for food on credit.”

She fetches one jerry can of water a day from Hala-Bokhad camp, one kilometre away, carrying it on her back. Her debts in shops in the camp and in town have reached $350.

Mulki still has two more children in Buulo-Agoon primary and middle school who will graduate this year. She already knows she has no way to send them to secondary school.

Alla-Amin primary school head teacher, Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, said nearly 20 students who completed this year have not progressed to secondary school. He fears the number will grow unless affordable options are introduced.

“These children come from poor families who can barely get daily meals,” he said. “What would help is building secondary schools inside the camps. It would also create teaching opportunities for university graduates. Another solution is helping parents with school fees and transport.”

He said they had raised the issue with the Puntland Ministry of Education but have not yet received a response.

Camp leaders estimate that children from more than 150 families from multiple schools in Alla-Amin, Donyaale, Bulo-Agoon, and other displacement camps around Galkayo will be unable to continue to secondary school this year.

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Around 450 students from pastoralist families in the rural areas of Gelinsor, Wadgelinsoor, Far-janno, and Qurdubanle were unable to go to school when classes were supposed to start in September.

The authority, which had been running the schools with support from humanitarian organisations, was unable to pay teachers’ salaries after donor funding stopped.

Abdi Mahmoud Hassan, a father of seven in Qurdubanle, said six of his children who were attending primary and intermediate school were now at home.

“There’s no education at all. Now everything has fallen apart. We never had proper school buildings anyway, the classes were held under trees. But now the teachers have left, and 90% of parents can’t afford to send their children elsewhere,” Abdi told Radio Ergo.

He described the free school as having kindled his children’s hopes of learning, only for those dreams to fade away.

Parents had collected money among themselves to pay the teachers, but could not raise enough. This was because they are grappling with the economic impact of severe drought that has left their livestock emaciated and unproductive.

Abdi can’t afford to send his children to schools in Adado town, 25 km away, as he has no means to support them there. He said all of his herd of 50 goats are too weak to sell in the market.

Without any livestock income, his family is living on one meal a day, mostly supported by relatives in Adado. Shops that gave him food on credit have stopped until he pays off his debts.

“The shops I used to take goods from on credit have all refused me now. One I owe $5,000 has sworn not to give me anything again. Another I owe $3,000 also turned me away. People and livestock alike are suffering. No one will lend me food or grain anymore. I don’t even know where to turn, the whole town has become unbearable for me,” he said.

Abdi said he had been trying to find manual jobs in Adado but failed to get any work.

Another parent, Fadumo Elmi Abdi, whose three children were in lower and intermediate grades, is also disappointed that they are now at home as their school in Qurdubanle is closed.

She said her children benefited greatly during the two years they attended school, but now they are idle at home with no alternative education.

“The children who dropped out have started engaging in bad habits because they have nothing to occupy them. They are young, and as you know, when youth have nothing to do, many bad things can happen,” she said.

Fadumo said she worries about her children’s future, as well as the family’s worsening living conditions. The household of seven now depends on help from neighbours.

Like other families in the area, her livestock have lost value due to lack of pasture. They used to depend on income from their herd of 30 goats. She feared the herd may not survive unless the rain arrives soon.

Water trucked from Adado town is too expensive, and those who used to give her water on credit have stopped.

“A small water truck costs around $50 to bring water here, sometimes even $60. We have two jerrycans left, and they’re almost empty. We don’t have a motorised pump. If we had a reliable water source, life would be much easier because water is the number one need,” she said.

Her family owes around $800 in debts for food and water, which they have been unable to repay. Creditors have given them a one-month grace period, leaving her in constant worry.

The impact of the school closures has been felt across the affected villages. The education coordinator for Adado district, Hussein Ali Sahal, said efforts were underway to reopen the schools, although funding remained a major challenge.

He said organisations including CERA International, JOSBO, and Save Somali Children, which had been covering teachers’ expenses, withdrew their support this year after their projects ended.

“The government teachers deployed to Adado town cover only about 15% of the area’s needs. Many rural teachers were not included in that programme, which is why these villages remain without teachers. If we could recruit new teachers, we could restart classes. We’ll keep working on it, no matter how long it takes,” he said.

Hussein added that the schools, which had been operating for the past three years, were established to give pastoralist children access to the same education as their peers in urban areas.

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Laki was forced to drop out in her second year of secondary education when her father stopped supporting the family. To keep her household afloat, she began working as a cleaner for city families in March.

She earns $110 a month, and spends $45 on rent and water for the two-room house where she and her siblings live. The rest is used for food, clothing, and other basic needs.

“It is enough for me and my family, thank god. This work provides us with the most important things we need. What pushed me was the need to help my family. I couldn’t just watch the suffering they were going through. At first, I started work in a household where I was paid $50, and now I found another where I get $60,” Laki told Radio Ergo.

She works 10-hour shifts every day of the week and sometimes their meals are meagre although she strives to ensure her siblings do not go to bed hungry. She would like a better-paid job, but every vacancy she has tried to apply for requires certificates.

“The biggest challenge I face is being the only person everyone depends in the family. I work for people I don’t know and have never seen before. Sometimes I go to work while I am sick and can’t skip it, just to support my mother and my siblings,” said Laki.

Her parents’ separation in February left her mother at home without an income. Laki had hoped to finish at Gacan-libah Secondary School and study engineering. She has not given up on the dream.

Hargeisa teenager, Nimo Ali Hassan, left Biyo-dhacay school last September and in March started work at a local business. She now earns $140 a month that feeds the family and keeps her four younger siblings in school.

“If I went back to school the place I fill for my family would be empty. Lack of means forced me out of education and there was no way to continue. I left in Grade 7 just before entering Grade 8. If I can, I will return, but I have fallen behind in both secular and religious studies,” she said.

Nimo, 17, is the household’s sole breadwinner after the death of her father. Her mother ran a small roadside vegetable stall that failed. Though Nimo’s income does not cover everything, it keeps them afloat.

“Managing my family means a great deal to me. I can’t fill everything, but I contribute what I can. This year everything is expensive, yet I provide what I can. My family depends entirely on me — where there is a gap I must fill it. I cover part of it, and Allah covers the rest,” she told Radio Ergo.

Nimo said she paid $20 to secure her current job after being repeatedly turned away where a guarantor was required. She had to use informal intermediaries who connect jobseekers to employers for a fee.

Many young people who drop out of school complain about the lack of decent work and how economic hardship forces them to choose between education and immediate needs.

Shukri Mohamed, 21, could not continue proceed with secondary school after finishing Adan Dhama middle school and now works as a cleaner in a pharmacy.

Her father died when she was young, leaving her mother unemployed and without income. As a result, Shukri has become the main breadwinner for her family.

She works every day from late afternoon into the night earning about $100 a month — far short of the needs of her seven-member household, who live on the outskirts of Hargeisa, where access to piped water is limited.

“Water is the hardest thing to obtain. We live outside the city where there are no pipes, and we must order a water truck three days in advance. They do not provide it on credit or by installments. If I borrow, they will not bring it next month or next week. When it arrives, I fill five drums because everything is used for cleaning and cooking,” she said.

Her family owes $1,200 for a two-room iron-sheet house and a latrine they built earlier this year on land they own. The supplier of building materials keeps demanding his money, while the family has been unable to begin repayments.

Across Hargeisa, such young women often become the backbone of households in times of crisis, shouldering heavy work and responsibility for large families, and sacrificing their own education.

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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.

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