Somali National University

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Somali National University
الجامعة الوطنية الصومالية
Established 1954
Type Public
Location Mogadishu, Banaadir, Somalia
2°02′17″N 45°17′13″E / 2.038°N 45.287°E / 2.038; 45.287Coordinates: 2°02′17″N 45°17′13″E / 2.038°N 45.287°E / 2.038; 45.287
Campus Urban
Former names Gaheyr University

The Somali National University (SNU) (Somali: Jaamacada Ummada Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: الجامعة الوطنية الصومالية‎) was a national university in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Its campus grounds were located four kilometers from the Mogadishu International Airport. In November 2013, the Cabinet unanimously approved a federal government plan to reopen the university.

History

General

The former Somali National University campus grounds (early 1990s).

The Somali National University was established in 1954. Its main university grounds were situated about six kilometers from the city center. Here, during the institution's first thirty years, the main campus was known as Jaamacada Gaheyr ("Gaheyr University").[1]

In 1973, under the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC), programs and facilities were expanded. The SNU developed over the next twenty years into an expansive institution of higher learning, with 13 departments, 700 staff and over 15,000 students.[2]

Under the Somali revolutionary government, the Ministry of Higher Learning and Culture established research centers in a number of cities, with the goal of developing regional economies. These learning centers were earmarked for employees from such ministries as the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Livestock and Forestry Management. Skilled and knowledgeable staff graduated from these centers.

In the mid-1970s, the teaching college of Lafoole University, one of SNU's remote campuses, was made a stand-alone institution ("Lafoole Teacher's College"). The language of instruction was English.

Due to extensive damage to its facilities as well as the difficulty of holding classes and acquiring books and other necessities in the wake of the civil war in the early 1990s, classes at the university were indefinitely suspended.

Language of instruction

Italian was the Somali National University's primary language of instruction. The university's main campus was situated in Mogadishu, where residents were already familiar with the Italian language.

From 1973 onward, Somali and English were introduced as additional languages of instruction. All programs at Lafoole College were taught in English. Across the country, there were programs in Af Soomaali run by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, the government ministry responsible for scholastic instruction.

When the Somali linguist Shire Jama Ahmed's modified Latin script was chosen by the Siad Barre administration as the nation's official orthography, Somali language courses began to spring up throughout the country. The language of instruction in primary and secondary schools also became Somali.

Relaunch

On 14 November 2013, the Cabinet unanimously approved a federal government plan to reopen the Somali National University. The refurbishing initiative is expected to cost $3.6 million USD.[2]

Campuses

The Somali National University had three main campuses. The first campus, Gaheyr, opened in 1954 and was located at KM 6 (on the Afgooye Road, 6 km from downtown Mogadishu). There were also new expansion buildings across from Gaheyr Campus. The new buildings took some years to complete and were situated on the other side of the Afgoi road, facing Gaheyr.

Most of the new buildings had some sort of circular design to them, and the engineer who designed them was unofficially nicknamed "Engineer O" by the students. The lights from the lamp posts on the Somali National University's campus grounds added to the bright lights of Mogadishu.

The SNU campuses were:

  1. Gaheyr – Mogadishu at KM 6
  2. Digfeer – Medical school near Digfeer Hospital in Mogadishu
  3. Lafoole Teaching College – Lafoole

Faculties

The fifteen departments of the Somali National University were:

  1. Department of Sharia Law
  2. Department of Linguistics (Somali, Arabic, English, German, and Italian)
  3. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry[3]
  4. Department of Education (Teaching College at Lafoole; 20 km west of Mogadishu)
  5. Department of Agriculture
  6. Department of Geology and Mining
  7. Department of Medicine (College of Medicine; near Digfeer Hospital)
  8. Department of Chemical/Industrial Engineering
  9. Department of History
  10. Department of Geography
  11. Department of Science
  12. Department of Mathematics
  13. Department of Public Health
  14. Department of Engineering
  15. Department of Political Science
  16. Department of Journalism

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the Somali National University include:

Notes

  1. ↑ Country Higher Education Profiles - Somalia
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Cabinet endorses plans to reopen Somali National University". Horseed Media. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Somali National University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and animal Husbandry". World Veterinary Association. Retrieved 2013-02-17. 
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