Geriley Primary School

Figure 1.Geriley primary school  class four-pupils learning in one of the ASEP constructed classes -October 2020

Geriley primary school is located at a strategic location providing education to a significant proportion of pastoralist children in Southern Bardere. In an area with insufficient and poor education facilities occasioned by decades of conflict and lack of functional government, this primary school has been instrumental in providing basic education to the underserved communities in the area. The school was initially built by the USAID-supported Transition Initiatives For Stabilization (TIS) project and comprised 3 classrooms and an administration office. However, with 120 pupils (75 boys and 45 girls) there was a need for extra classrooms to accommodate the number of pupils as mentioned by the school headteacher Abdi Awil Moge ‘ It was a very difficult situation because although the school had up to class five, the classrooms were only three compelling us to teach under a tree or sometimes combine two classes and teach them in shifts, this has really affected pupils’ concentration and even performance.’ 

Responding to the need, ASEP/ARCHENOVA has constructed two classrooms and two water tanks for rainwater collection. ‘We thank ASEP for this worthwhile support to us; since completing the two classrooms in April 2020, we have witnessed a high number of new admissions.  We have been receiving an average of 15 new registrations each month for the past four months. In general, the school enrollment has increased from 120 pupils from the time of the completion of the two classrooms in April 2020 to 204 in October 2020.’’ The school headteacher said. 

Figure 2. Abdi Moge- the school teacher during the interview -October 2020 

Geriley primary teachers and management have also sighted great improvement in the pupils’ performance since the installation of the water tanks by ASEP. Mohamed Iftin, the teacher in charge of the academic and discipline role said ‘ I have witnessed a positive change in the pass rate, the smartness of the pupils, and in the health of the pupils because we now have safe running water stored in our tanks thanks to ASEP and ARCHENOVA support; this gain is critical during this period of COVID-19 pandemic’. ASEP has in October 2020 supported the school with water trucking. During the ongoing Deyr rains, the water tanks are expected to collect rainwater. 

Figure 3. Geriley Primary School Students -October 2020

According to the school management, most of the new admissions are girls – a traditionally marginalized gender within the Somali community. The management says ASEP support to Geriley primary has been welcomed not only by the local community but also by other stakeholders. Recently AMISOM command in Geriley has pledged to support the two classrooms constructed with desks. 

Besides the success reported, the school is facing numerous other challenges; key among them being the lack of fence that is risking the vandalization of the constructed facilities and the need for extra classrooms since the current class six pupils are graduating to class seven this year. The school management has requested ASEP and other well-wishers to continue and upscale their support. The existence of a high rate of FGM and early marriage among young girls and minimal hygiene and sanitation services at the facility continues to affect the students’ retention, especially girls, although the construction of a water tank and gender-segregated twin latrines, under the WAPA project, have done some improvement in the students’ retention, according to the school teachers.