Somali National University

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

The Somali National University (SNU) (Somali: Jaamacada Ummada Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: الجامعة الوطنية الصومالية‎) is a national university in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Its campus grounds were originally located four kilometers from the Mogadishu International Airport (Aden Adde International Airport). After closing down for a number of years, the university officially reopened in August 2014.

History

General

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

The Somali National University was established in 1954 in the Trust Territory of Somalia. It later obtained official university status in 1969.[1] The 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").[2]

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.[3]

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 cost $3.6 million USD.[3] On 16 August 2014, the federal government officially re-opened the Somali National University at a meeting of the Board of the University. The event was chaired by President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who serves as the head of the university's committee in charge of the curriculum, budget dispensation and faculties.[4]

On 18 September 2014, about 480 pupils took the university's entry exams, which were supervised by the Chairman of the Somali National University Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Jimale and the Deputy Minister of Culture and Higher Education Mohamed Ahmed Kulan.[5] In October 2014, Speaker of the Federal Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari and Minister of Culture and Higher Education Duale Adan Mohamed officially inaugurated the first academic year of the Somali National University.[6]

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 and departments

The Somali National University formerly had 12 departments:

  1. Department of Sharia Law
  2. Department of Linguistics (Somali, Arabic, English, German, Italian)
  3. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry[7]
  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. Faculty of Economics
  10. Faculty of Law
  11. Department of Engineering
  12. Department of Journalism

The new Somali National University is slated to initially have 6 faculties.[5]

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the Somali National University include:

Notes

  1. ↑ Jawed, Mohammed Nasir (1996). Year Book of the Muslim World. Medialine. p. 368.
  2. ↑ Country Higher Education Profiles - Somalia
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Cabinet endorses plans to reopen Somali National University". Horseed Media. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Federal government re-opens Somali National University". Goobjoog News. 16 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "SOMALIA: Weekly Government Progress report touches numerous issues". Raxanreeb. 20 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Somalia: Jawari officially opens the first academic year of Somali National University". Goobjoog. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Somali National University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and animal Husbandry". World Veterinary Association. Retrieved 2013-02-17.