The Somali community in the UK: What we know and how we ... - ICAR

own community, potential workers sit idle. For
Somalis, on an individual level, unemployment
breeds poverty, alienation, depression, and lack of
self-esteem. The community is marginalised and
deprived of an avenue into British society, with
damaging results especially for young people.
Reports on the Somali community have for some
time reiterated the problems around employment
and recognised their impact on other aspects of
Somali experience in the UK. But despite local
initiatives, a central programme to tackle the issue
has yet to be established.
Education 87
without any, or with very few, GCSEs”. But the
Liverpool community has its own estimate. It is
said that of the 300 Somali boys who have taken
GCSE since 1997, only three have passed. 89 Even
if this is an overly negative guesstimate, the trend
is clear. 90 In the London borough of Camden,
Somalis now make up nearly 10% of the school
population. But in spite of particular programmes
to tackle underachievement of refugees and
asylum seekers in a couple of schools, plus local
education authority support, these children are not
reaching their full potential. Figures are misleading
as numbers involved are small: the 3.1% gaining A*-
C represents one pupil. But table J does indicate
underperformance compared with other groups.
Somali mothers and fathers, like all parents,
know that the key to their children’s future lies
in their education. Education is high on the list
of community concerns, and Somalis organise
homework clubs and after school programmes
to help their children achieve. And many do. But
there are also scores of young Somalis who leave
school with no qualifications, or the accompanying
confidence to look for work.
As in other areas there are few statistics. While
some schools audit the progress of their Somali
pupils in order to assess their policies, not all
school and local authorities keep records on
Somali children - or even on the numbers of
pupils from particular ethnic groups in the school
population. Figures are also often contradictory.
For example, although it is agreed that Somali was
the second most spoken language in schools in the
London borough of Camden (not counting English)
in 1998, one source stated that this represented
2.4% of the school population, and another, 7%. 88
The same problem applies to an assessment of
Somali pupils’ achievement. In Liverpool, Stokes
(2000: para. 16.4) was unable to find statistical
confirmation of his conclusion that “with a few
exceptions most Somali students will leave school
86. Interview, Ahmed Farah 24.3.03.
87. Secondary sources on education include: Hassan (1994); Daycare Trust
(1995); City of Liverpool (1996); Xifaras (1996); Kahin (1997); Farah and
Smith (1999); Ali and Jones (2000); Stokes (2000); Lukes and Bell (2002);
Robertson (2002); Cox (2002; 2003); Hannan (2003).
88. Ali and Jones, 2000: 5.
89. Interview, Saeed Farah, City Resources Unit, Liverpool Council 19.3.03.
90. For factors contributing to the academic underachievement of Somali
pupils see Kahin, 1997: 63-81.
The Somali community in the UK
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