Funding cuts close Baidoa IDP schools, leaving teachers jobless

Saturday May 23, 2026

Maths teacher Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim lost his job in one of eight IDP schools in Baidoa closed by funding cuts/Abdullahi Mohamed/Ergo

More than 120 teachers in Baidoa’s displacement camps have been left without work after aid cuts shut down eight schools, pushing hundreds of families deeper into hardship in one of Somalia’s busiest hubs for the displaced.

The schools, located in the Bookay area north of Baidoa, had been educating about 1,500 children from internally displaced families. With the closures, the teachers who once kept those classrooms running are now struggling to find food, pay rent, secure water and keep their own children in school.

Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim, a father of eight, said the loss of his salary has upended every part of family life. Gobaadegsoy primary school, which was supported by SOS Children’s Villages Somalia, shut in February, ending his $100-a-month job as a mathematics teacher.

“The hardest thing facing us is unemployment. For four months I have been idle because the school is closed. Our living conditions are extremely difficult now. Before was much better than today. We survive only on debt and begging,” Hassan told Radio Ergo.

He said local shopkeepers no longer extend credit for food because of the debts he already owes. Hassan said his household has accumulated $400 in food and water bills.

“We are facing serious problems with water. The pipes were cut off after we failed to pay for some time. We now ask neighbours for whatever they can spare. Sometimes they refuse and we stay thirsty,” he said.

The family’s nearest private well charges 15 US cents for 20 litres, a price Hassan often cannot meet. Electricity to the house has also been cut off, and the landlord is now pressing for $120 in overdue rent covering three months before the end of May.

Hassan said relatives previously helped clear earlier rent arrears after he narrowly avoided eviction in March, but the threat has now returned.

The fallout has reached his children’s schooling as well. Three of them stopped attending primary school and Koranic classes in March after he could no longer pay the $5 monthly fee for each child.

“One of the worst things for us is the children’s education. Even the school where we taught is closed and the students remain at home without lessons. Teachers are suffering badly because they have nothing to support their families,” Hassan said.

Abdimajid Ali Salad, another displaced-community teacher, said the closure of War-miraale primary and middle school wiped out the income his family of seven depended on. He had been earning $200 a month teaching science at the school under a Save the Children-supported project that ended in February.

“The biggest problem for me is feeding my children. Since becoming unemployed, my family has been living in severe hardship. Food, rent, education – everything stopped when the contract ended,” Abdimajid said.

His wages had paid for rent, food and his children’s schooling. Since losing that income, a fresh produce shop where he had built up a $150 debt for food purchases has closed his account and demanded repayment before offering more credit.

Abdimajid and his family were forced out of their single-room home at the end of April after he failed to clear $60 in rent arrears for two months. He said the landlord had warned him several times.

“We were evicted because the landlord knew I no longer had a salary. Right now we are staying with relatives after leaving the house. Our situation is extremely difficult,” he said.

Two of his children left school in March after he could not pay their combined $20 monthly fees. Abdimajid fears they may not return any time soon.

Hassan Macalin Mohamed, the education coordinator for displaced communities in Boonkay, said the eight schools had served some of Baidoa’s poorest families, many of whom had no other way to educate their children.

“At least 1,500 children were attending these schools and now they are all out of education sitting at home,” he said. “These are poor displaced families who can’t even afford half a dollar for school fees. We hope the schools can reopen because the children have no alternative.”

He said the buildings and facilities had deteriorated during the months the schools remained closed and urged Somalia’s education authorities and humanitarian agencies to move quickly to restore support.