While Koranic schools are omnipresent throughout Somaliland and can boast a student enrolment rate of 60% compared to just 17% in primary schools, their contribution to basic education is either not known or thought to be insignificant. This paper reports on a survey to establish the current structure of Koranic schools in Somaliland, with a view to documenting the changing nature of the institution and assessing its potential to effectively address the expansion of basic education. It discusses survey findings on the material conditions of the Koranic schools; enrolment by age and sex; background of the teachers; opportunities for learning beyond memorisation of the Koran; and level of community and outside involvement in managing and sustaining the schools. The conclusion drawn is that Koranic schools have remained remarkably resilient and popular since their introduction in Somaliland 700 years ago, and contrary to common beliefs about the institution, virtually all the Koranic schools surveyed included elements of basic education and thus offered more than rote memorisation of the Koran. Although more research is required, the evidence appears to strongly support the possibility of widening the focus of Koranic schools to include primary education as envisioned by the Somaliland white paper on education. Koranic schools have the advantage of high coverage, low cost and willingness of parents to pay. Without an effective bridge to formally link Koranic and primary schools, the paper suggests that Somaliland may never be able to lift itself out of the present spiral of low human capital development and under-investment in the most vital base of its population, the children. Nor could Somaliland meaningfully aspire to the objective of Education for All, including nomads, or any future national development objectives that are based on a large educated labour force. On the other hand, the introduction of basic education in Koranic schools will contribute both instantly and immensely to human resources development in the Republic, by targeting the large number of in-Koranic-school but out-of-primary-school children.

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   |texte=   Old institutions, new opportunities: the emerging nature of Koranic schools in Somaliland in the 1990s
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