Somalia to recruit 10,000 teachers, shift salaries to domestic revenue in education overhaul
MOGADISHU — Somalia will hire 10,000 teachers over the next 45 months and pay their salaries entirely from domestic revenue, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre announced Friday, framing the move as a cornerstone of state-building and economic independence.
- Advertisement -
“For the first time in Somalia’s history, teachers’ salaries will be paid entirely from domestic revenue rather than external support,” Barre wrote on X. “This is not just politics, it is an honor. It is practical independence.”
The government’s recruitment drive marks a significant pivot toward publicly financed education after decades of conflict, institutional collapse and limited state funding. When the current administration took office, government records showed roughly 900 teachers on the federal payroll. Barre said thousands of trained teachers have since been recruited and deployed nationwide, including to remote and underserved areas that have long lacked stable public provision.
Officials acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead. The government estimates Somalia will ultimately require about 120,000 teachers to fully meet national education needs. In parallel, authorities plan to recruit up to 12,000 civil servants by 2026 as part of wider public sector reform intended to strengthen service delivery and improve governance.
Why it matters
For years, schooling across much of Somalia has leaned on private institutions, community initiatives and donor-funded programs. By committing domestic revenue to pay teachers at scale, the government is signaling a shift toward nationally financed systems designed to endure beyond external funding cycles.
By the numbers
- 10,000 teachers to be recruited over 45 months
- About 900 teachers were on the federal payroll when the administration took office
- Up to 12,000 civil servants slated for recruitment by 2026
- Long-term need estimated at 120,000 teachers nationwide
The big picture
Somalia’s education sector has been weakened by conflict, displacement and fragmented oversight, leaving uneven access and quality across regions. The recruitment plan aligns with broader fiscal and institutional reforms aimed at consolidating state capacity and standardizing essential services.
Education experts say new hiring is a critical foundation for progress but caution that sustained gains will depend on parallel investments. Priorities include expanding and rehabilitating school infrastructure, strengthening teacher training and certification pathways, updating curricula and textbooks, and ensuring governance and accountability mechanisms that can track learning outcomes and curb payroll leakages.
What to watch
- Implementation pace and equitable deployment of new teachers, including to rural and underserved districts
- Budget allocations in upcoming fiscal cycles to sustain domestically funded payrolls
- Teacher training, supervision and professional development to raise classroom quality
- Curriculum and assessment reforms to standardize learning across public and community schools
Barre cast the decision as both symbolic and structural, underscoring the government’s intent to move key public services onto a stable, locally financed footing. If delivered as pledged, the teacher hiring plan could begin to knit together a fragmented education landscape—setting a baseline for broader reform while testing Somalia’s ability to raise revenue and manage a growing public workforce.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
