Universities and colleges
Abaarso School of Science and Technology, near Hargeisa
Abaarso School is a non-profit boarding school for grades 7 to 12 in Abaarso, 18 km west of Hargeisa, founded in 2009 by the American former finance executive Jonathan Starr. Teaching is in English on an American curriculum. Its network says more than 390 alumni have won scholarships worth $65 million, at universities including Harvard, Yale and MIT.
In short
Abaarso School of Science and Technology is a non-profit, mixed boarding school in Abaarso, Maroodi Jeex, Somaliland (Wikipedia). The campus is 18 km west of Hargeisa (same source). It teaches grades 7 to 12 and is accredited in the United States, according to its network (Abaarso Network).
How it started
Jonathan Starr, an American former finance executive, founded the school in 2009 and gave half a million dollars of his own money (Wikipedia). It was a secondary school only until 2013, when it added an intermediate school (same source).
In 2014 the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) gave it candidate status for accreditation (same source).
How students are taught
- Entry: by test. In 2015 to 2016, 9% of applicants to grade 7 were accepted (Wikipedia).
- Language: all teaching is in English, except Islamic studies, Arabic and Somali (same source).
- Hours: about 30 hours of classes a week, mainly mathematics, English and logical thinking, on an American-based curriculum (same source).
- Students: about 120 in the upper school and 98 in the lower school, in Wikipedia's count (same source). The network says 60% of its students are female and 85% get financial aid (Abaarso Network).
Results
Within six years of opening, the school had sent more than 60 students to schools and colleges abroad, including Amherst, Georgetown, MIT and Harvard (Wikipedia). The network now says more than 390 alumni have earned scholarships totalling $65 million, with places at Harvard, Yale, MIT, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell (Abaarso Network).
The anti-FGM campaigner Ubah Ali is a former student (Wikipedia). The network says an alumna was on the BBC's 100 Women list in 2020, and that the school is a 2026 finalist for the World's Best School Prize (Abaarso Network).
Campus and money
The campus has a school building, separate boys' and girls' dormitories, staff housing, a mosque, computer and chemistry labs, sports grounds and a library of about 30,000 books (Wikipedia). The US programme American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) gave grants in 2014 and $879,225 in 2015 for new buildings (same source).
The wider network
- Barwaaqo University (2017): an all-female university for teachers, with three education degrees (Abaarso Network).
- Kaabe Schools (2019): English-immersion primary schools from age three; 90% of their teachers are Barwaaqo graduates (same source).
Students also tutor children at the Hargeisa Orphanage and in Abaarso village; nine orphanage students have won full scholarships to the school (Wikipedia).
Read more
Sources
- Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Abaarso Network · abaarsonetwork.org
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