# Ministry of Education of Somalia (Wasaaradda Waxbarashada): what it does > What Somalia's federal education ministry does: curriculum, national exams, teachers, school counts and higher education, how it shares the work with the member states, and the separate ministries in Puntland and Somaliland. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/ministry-of-education/ Last checked: 2026-11-12 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## What it does The federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE) sets national education policy for Somalia ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). Its main jobs are: - **Curriculum:** it writes the national curriculum for grades 1 to 12. In December 2025 the minister announced a full review of the curriculum in 2026, a review committee was set up, and the ministry laid the foundation stone of a national curriculum development centre ([Dawan Africa, curriculum review](https://dawan.africa/news/somalia-set-to-revamp-education-curriculum-in-upcoming-review); [Dawan Africa, curriculum centre](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-launches-curriculum-centre-construction)). - **National exams:** through the Somali National Examination Board it runs the Grade 8 and Grade 12 exams. The 2025/26 Grade 12 exams ran from 20 to 25 June 2026, with 44,136 students in 158 exam centres across 58 districts. Prime Minister [Hamza Abdi Barre](/en/people/hamza-abdi-barre/) opened them ([Dawan Africa, June 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/44000-somali-students-begin-grade-12-exams); [Garowe Online](https://garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/more-than-44-000-students-sit-somalia-s-2026-secondary-school-exams)). For results, see [Exam results](/en/society/exam-results/). - **Teachers:** it sets teacher standards. At a national education meeting in August 2026 the federal government, the states and Banadir agreed on reforms, and the government announced the hiring of 4,000 teachers ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-announces-recruitment-of-4000-teachers-school-reforms-at-national-education-meeting)). - **School counts:** it counts pupils, schools and teachers each year in the regions it reaches; the statistics bureau publishes them ([SNBS](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). See [Schools in numbers](/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/). - **Universities:** it registers universities. About 130 are registered, and in 2026 the [National Higher Education Commission](/en/institutions/national-commission-for-higher-education/) began reviewing them against national standards ([Dawan Africa, August 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-starts-review-of-higher-education-standards)). See [Somali universities one by one](/en/institutions/main-universities/). ## Who leads it Farah [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Abdulkadir is the federal minister. In April 2026 he called for one national curriculum and tighter rules for teachers, saying the federal system had weakened common standards and oversight ([Dawan Africa, April 2026](https://www.dawan.africa/news/somalia-minister-unify-curriculum-regulate-teachers); [AllAfrica](https://allafrica.com/stories/202604230343.html)). ## How the work is shared Education is shared between the federal government and the member states. The federal ministry sets national policy, the curriculum and exams; state ministries of education run schools in their states. [Puntland](/en/states/puntland/) and [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) run their own ministries, curricula and exams: the federal school count does not include them ([SNBS](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)). In August 2026 Somaliland's Ministry of Education and Science announced its own 2025/26 national exam results ([AllAfrica, August 2026](https://allafrica.com/stories/202608260035.html)). ## In numbers From the ministry's own count for 2024/25 ([SNBS, Facts and Figures 2024, Tables 1.1 to 1.5](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Facts-and-figures-2024.pdf)): - **Primary pupils:** 644,904, of whom 45.8 percent are girls. Banadir has 240,373. - **Secondary pupils:** 201,697, of whom 42.3 percent are girls. - **Private schools:** about half of primary pupils (50.6 percent in 2025) attend private schools. The bureau's tables do not all agree; [Schools in numbers](/en/data/schools-and-learning-numbers/) lists the differences. ## A short history The Ministry of Education ran a single national school system from independence in 1960. After Somali was first written in 1972, it led the move to Somali-language schooling and the literacy campaigns of 1973 to 1975, and primary enrolment rose from 6.9 percent in 1971 to 31.8 percent in 1977 ([UNESCO UIS](https://uis.unesco.org/en/country/so)). The national system stopped in 1991, and communities, private schools and Quran schools kept teaching. The federal ministry rebuilt its role after 2012. See [The Somali language is written, 1972](/en/history/somali-language-written-1972/). ## How to use it - **Exam registration and results:** through your school; results are published by the examination board. - **Certificates:** national exam certificates are issued through the examination board. - **University recognition:** check that a university is registered with the ministry before enrolling. ## Its legal basis The 2012 Provisional Constitution, which gives every person the right to education (Article 30), as amended in 2024 and 2026; the ministry's mandate is set by the Council of Ministers. --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.