Somalia Plans to Recruit 12,000 Teachers by 2026 Under Education Reform

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia plans to recruit 12,000 government-employed teachers by the end of 2026, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said Saturday, framing the effort as the centerpiece of a drive to rebuild a long-fragile education system and place it on a domestically financed footing.

Barre said his administration has already recruited and deployed 6,000 trained teachers in less than two years, a dramatic shift from the roughly 900 teachers on the federal payroll when the government took office.

“In just two years, we recruited and deployed 6,000 trained teachers on the path to reaching 10,000 across our nation, from bustling cities to the most remote communities,” Barre said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “We are pressing forward to reach 12,000 government-employed teachers by 2026.”

He cast the reform as a question of sovereignty, noting that teacher salaries are, for the first time in Somalia’s history, financed entirely from domestic revenue rather than external support.

“That is not just policy, it is pride. It is sovereignty in action,” he said. “Our teachers are no longer overlooked; they are honored as the heartbeat of our country and the builders of tomorrow.”

According to the prime minister, fewer than one in four Somali children were enrolled in school when the current government assumed office. He said access and attainment have since widened, citing a jump in national Grade 12 examination candidates from 7,000 to 39,000. In a symbolic milestone, students in Las’anood sat national exams for the first time in three decades.

Higher education is also expanding, the government says, with nearly 250,000 graduates and 200,000 current students now registered within Somalia’s universities and colleges.

Even so, Barre acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead. Meeting national demand will ultimately require about 120,000 teachers, he said — a tenfold increase over today’s public workforce — alongside improvements in school quality and reach.

Education specialists caution that hiring alone will not guarantee sustained gains. They point to the need for steady investment in school infrastructure, modernized curricula, continuous teacher training, robust data systems and stronger governance to ensure students learn — and stay in school — across urban and rural communities alike.

The recruitment drive is unfolding as Somalia works to shift essential services onto a more durable fiscal base. Officials portray the move to domestically fund teachers as part of broader state capacity-building and public financial management reforms intended to reduce volatility and improve service delivery after years of conflict, displacement and drought pressures.

Key figures at a glance:

• Target: 12,000 government-employed teachers by end of 2026
• Hired and deployed since 2022: 6,000 teachers
• Teachers on federal payroll when administration took office: about 900
• National Grade 12 exam candidates: up from 7,000 to 39,000
• Las’anood students sat national exams for the first time in 30 years
• Higher education: nearly 250,000 graduates; 200,000 current students registered
• Estimated long-term need: 120,000 teachers nationwide
• Teacher salaries now fully financed from domestic revenue, government says

The government has not released a detailed timeline for training and deployment beyond the 2026 target, but officials argue the momentum is clear. The coming months will test whether the state can keep pace on classrooms, materials and oversight — and ensure the surge in teachers translates into measurable learning for Somalia’s children.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.