The government of Somaliland, through its ministry of education, released how it divided 300 scholarship positions which the government of Ethiopia granted Somalia to the different regions of the republic.
Of the 300, two-thirds were for undergraduate positions at Ethiopian university where the other 100 aimed to benefit second-degree (masters) candidates.
The Minister for Education, H.E. Yassin Mohamoud Hir ‘Faratton’, briefing the Council of Ministers on Thursday, repudiated opposition claims that the scholarships were grossly misappropriated leaving some of the regions in the lurch.
Minister Faratton cleared how his ministry allotted available positions to the regions stating that the fairest method they could find was to base allocations to the percent of students on the national graduations board, especially as was true with successful student numbers passing secondary schools exams for the undergraduate positions.
Minister Faratton said in order to compensate regions that lagged behind in numbers, positions were subtracted from other regions that rightfully earned them by sheer numbers.
Opposition parties pointed out that the government went back on its word of upholding justice above every other consideration, failing on one of its first attempts in the form of the scholarships. They said, for one, since the government stated positions would be divided on the basis of the old six regions, bringing in Gabiley as one of them was wrong. They also said western regions got the lion’s share.
Although the table below abrogates the figures opposition leaders quoted, still the general assertion that regions on the western part of the country landed the greatest share remains valid. One reason the opposition did not acknowledge, according to the tables, may be explained by the number of illegible students for each region based on recent graduations.
The Ministry granted the regions of Maroodijeex, Awdal, Gabilay, Hawd and Selel (West) a share of 51.5% equivalent to 103 of the positions out of the 200 undergraduate positions. Sahel (Berbera) got 7 and SOS schools were given 10 positions which left 80 places to be divided among Togdheer (28), Sool (15), Saraar (5), Sanaag (12), Buuhoodle (6), Daadmadheedh 7 and Badhan 7.
Of the second-degree places, Maroodijeex, together with Awdal and Gabilay, garnered 60% out of the hundred (60 positions). Sahel, in this case, found places for 5 of its candidates, where Togdheer landed 15, Sool 10 and Sanaag 10. In the latter case, the Ministry lumped rest of the fairly newer regions under their old ones where Gabiley did not.
See table below for details.
I went to help scholarship of masters