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Mogadishu,(insidesomalia.org)- The guardman stands infront, no more students are coming in, the school is totally empty and roads coming in and out are natuarlly closed by escalating conflict and direct confrontations between Ethiopian forces supporting goverment troops against islamists insurgents in Mogadishu.
It is Ablaal primary, intermediate and secondary school located at the Huriwa neighbourhood where the heaviest confrontations in capital city always happen. The school established after the collapse of the military regime is privately owned one, but is one of the most known schools in Mogadishu.
Like many other schools, Ablaal is not operational and it's students fled from their homes after fighting flares up. Some of them went across the border of neighbouring states like Kenya seeking safe heaven.
"It is difficult to teach in a situation like this" said Warsame Mohamed Warsame, an english teacher from Abu Khuseyma, a chain of secondary and intermediate schools in Mogadishu.
Parents stop their children going school because they can not make sure that they will return home safely.
"My two daughter were twice trapped in a cross fire and I decided not to send them to school" Habiba Mohamed Elmi, mother of six children who resides in the nothern part of Mogadishu.
Ali Mohamed Ahmed "luckyman" is the principal of Sohdo High School, a vocational training school for nurses and journalists at Al Baraka junction in Mogadishu, where Ehiopian forces always fight againt insurgents, he is now jobless after his school was closed down.
"The school has been closed down for more than a week,.. we are not sure the possibility of reopening unless the situation changes" said Ali Mohamed.
Mogadishu has many formal, informal, vocational and higher institutes and universities but most the students, teachers, school adminstrators and their families fled from the escalating violence in the capital city where tank shells, motars, hand grenades and road side bombs become familiar.
Few teachers who still remain take half of their wages; almost 60 to 70 US$, that can not satisfied their needs.
The students ought to pay school fees and most of the parent could not afford these payments which is about 10 US$ per month for each students.
This led that more than half of the children can not go to school thus lacking their right to be educated by going to school.
The number of class attendence has decreased after the fighting broke out and those who attend classes are dissatisfied on the absence of their classmates who are on the run seeking safe places.
The most popular schools with higher enrolls in Mogadishu includes; Ablal School, Immu Shafi'i School, Bilal School, Abu Khuseyma Schools, Al Huda, Madina Warsame, Ahmed Gurei, Al Nahda, Sohda School and many other but most these school come under. The control three main educational umbrella; FPENS, SAFE and SOFFA.
These three umbrella regulate the curriculum of the education of the schools although there is no unified curriculum and former Somali Curriculum was abandoned and replaced by others from Arabian Peninsula, Kenya and other countries.
Most of the schools in the Southern parts of Mogadshu and even higher Institutes like SIMAD and universities such as Mogadishu University , Banadir University are empty now and all eduacatinal activeties were stopped , students wearing uniforms were not seen in the street since fighting started.
In the Northern parts of Mogadishu such Karan and Shibis districts and South West of Mogadishu including Madina and Dharkenley Students go to schools because these areas less violence than southern parts of the capital city.
These schools and Universities florished after many of schools and universities were abolished by gang thungs and irresponsible people who thought that the school build with the self help scheme belonged by the ousted military regime of General Mohamed Siad Barre.
Mohamed Siad Barre who ruled the country with iron fist for 21 years was toppled in 1991, but replaced by warlords who struggled for the power fighting one and other for more than 14 years.
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