Education as a Foundation for Peace and State-Building: Examining the Socioeconomic and Geographic Determinants of Educational Inequality in Somalia

In many parts of the world, schools are seen simply as places where children learn to read and write, a step toward a better job. But in nations that have suffered from long periods of conflict and weak government, schools do more than teach facts. They act as a visible sign that a government exists and cares for its people. When a state can provide a classroom, it is offering a promise of safety and belonging. When it cannot, or when it only provides schools for some people while leaving others behind, it signals that the social contract—the unspoken agreement between a government and its citizens—is broken. This idea is central to understanding how education relates to peace. If schooling is unevenly distributed, it does not just mean some children miss out on lessons; it means entire groups of people feel excluded from the nation itself, which can fuel further anger and instability.

A team of researchers from Somali National University set out to understand exactly how this plays out in Somalia, a country that has been rebuilding its institutions for decades. They wanted to move beyond simple questions like "how many children are in school?" to ask a deeper question: who is left out, and why? By looking at data from nearly 43,000 households, they discovered that the reasons children miss school are not just about whether a family is poor. Instead, the biggest factors are where a family lives, how they make a living, and whether the local government is strong enough to keep schools open and safe. The study suggests that in Somalia, the gap between those who go to school and those who do not is a map of where the state is present and where it is absent.

The researchers analyzed data from the Somalia Health and Demographic Survey of 2020, a massive collection of information gathered from families across the country. They looked at the educational levels of respondents, ranging from no formal schooling at all to university degrees, and compared these levels against a wide range of other details. They examined wealth, family size, whether the family owned a radio or television, and crucially, where the family lived—whether in a city, a rural village, or a nomadic camp. They also looked at specific regions, as Somalia is divided into many different administrative areas with varying levels of security and development.

The first thing the data revealed was the sheer scale of the challenge. In the group of people they studied, the vast majority had no formal education at all. Only a tiny fraction had reached higher levels of schooling. This was not a surprise, but the patterns behind these numbers told a more complex story. When the researchers looked at the raw numbers, they saw that children in cities were much more likely to go to school than those in rural areas or those living a nomadic life. They also saw a clear link between money and education: families with more resources had children who stayed in school longer. However, the researchers knew that looking at these factors one by one could be misleading. A family might be poor, but if they live in a safe city with many schools, their children might still get an education. Conversely, a slightly wealthier family living in a dangerous, remote area might have no schools to send their children to.

To get a clearer picture, the researchers used a statistical method that allowed them to look at all these factors at once, separating the influence of wealth from the influence of location and lifestyle. They found that while money matters, it is not the only story. The place where a child lives and the type of life their family leads are often just as important, if not more so. For instance, living in a city was a strong predictor of higher education, even after accounting for how much money the family had. This suggests that the physical presence of schools and the stability of the community are critical. In contrast, being nomadic did not show a significant difference in the adjusted model, but the data showed that nomadic children often face unique barriers that are not captured by simple income measures.

The study also highlighted the role of specific regions. Before adjusting for other factors, some regions appeared to have much better or worse educational outcomes than others. But when the researchers controlled for wealth and other household characteristics, many of these regional differences disappeared. This was a crucial finding. It suggested that the educational gaps between regions were not necessarily because one region was inherently better at education than another, but because the people in those regions had different economic conditions or lived in different types of settlements. However, a few regions still showed significant differences even after these adjustments, pointing to deeper, structural issues in how services are delivered in those specific areas.

One of the most striking findings concerned the relationship between marriage and education. The data showed a clear link: the younger a girl was when she married, the less likely she was to have a higher level of education. This held true even when looking at other factors like wealth or location. This points to a social reality where early marriage often cuts short a girl's schooling, reinforcing a cycle where education is lost not just because of a lack of schools, but because of social norms and life choices that limit opportunity.

The researchers also looked at access to information. They found that owning a radio was linked to higher education levels, but owning a television was not. This might seem counterintuitive, but it suggests that in this context, the radio serves as a more practical and accessible tool for information and connection to the wider world, perhaps because it is cheaper, more portable, or more widely used in rural and nomadic settings. The lack of a link with television suggests that simply having a screen does not guarantee educational engagement if the underlying conditions for learning are not met.

Perhaps the most important conclusion of the study is that educational inequality in Somalia cannot be solved by simply building more schools or giving money to poor families. The data shows that the problem is deeply rooted in the geography of the country and the way the state functions. In some areas, the government is present and schools are safe; in others, the state is absent, and education is a privilege few can access. The researchers argue that this uneven distribution is a sign of a fractured state. When a government cannot ensure that a child in a remote village has the same chance to learn as a child in the capital, it is not just failing to provide a service; it is failing to include that child in the nation.

This does not mean that poverty is irrelevant. The study confirmed that wealth is a powerful driver of education. Families with more resources consistently had children with better educational outcomes. But the study also showed that poverty does not act alone. It interacts with where you live, how you travel, and whether your community is safe. A family might be poor but live in a stable area with schools, while another family might be slightly better off but live in a conflict zone where schools are closed. The researchers found that these structural factors often outweigh the direct measure of poverty. This means that policies focused only on reducing poverty might miss the mark if they do not also address the geographic and security barriers that prevent children from attending school.

The study also touched on the role of displacement. Many families in Somalia have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict or drought. The data suggested that the situation for displaced children is complex. In some cases, being displaced meant moving closer to humanitarian aid and schools, which could improve access. In other cases, the instability of displacement made it impossible for children to stay in school. The researchers noted that the impact of displacement depends heavily on the specific circumstances of the family and the location they moved to, making it difficult to generalize about the educational fate of all displaced children.

Ultimately, the paper paints a picture of a country where education is a mirror reflecting the state of the nation. The gaps in schooling are not just gaps in knowledge; they are gaps in citizenship. The researchers suggest that for education to truly help build peace in Somalia, it must be treated as a matter of governance and inclusion, not just a welfare service. It requires a government that can reach every corner of the country, ensuring that schools are safe and accessible regardless of whether a family is rich or poor, urban or nomadic.

The study acknowledges its own limits. Because the data was collected at a single point in time, it cannot prove that one factor causes another. It shows that these things happen together, but it cannot say for certain that living in a city causes a child to go to school, or that poverty causes a child to drop out. It also cannot measure the quality of the schools or the specific impact of ongoing violence on a daily basis. These are things that future research will need to explore with different methods.

Despite these limitations, the findings offer a clear path forward. They suggest that to build a more peaceful and stable Somalia, leaders and aid workers must look beyond the numbers of children in classrooms. They must understand that the distribution of education is a sign of how the state treats its people. If the goal is to create a nation where all citizens feel they belong, then the schools must be there for everyone, not just for those in the cities or those with money. The study concludes that until the state can provide education as a right to all its people, regardless of where they live or how they make a living, the foundation for lasting peace will remain incomplete. The journey to peace in Somalia, the researchers argue, is inextricably linked to the journey toward an education system that leaves no one behind.