Educational Background

Their general exclusion from mainstream Somali society has hindered the Bantu from participating in the education system. The Somali government has established far fewer schools in Bantu regions than in towns inhabited by dominant clans. This denial of access to education represents one of the most egregious and detrimental examples of Somali institutional discrimination against the Bantu. Some Bantu children in Somalia did attend Koranic (religious education) schools.

The lack of schools in Bantu residential areas, along with an unfamiliar language used as the medium of instruction, are among the obstacles to education faced by the rural Bantu. Those who can afford to send their children to a city to earn a high school degree face discrimination against pursuing higher education. In general, Bantu students have been deliberately excluded from studying abroad on scholarships. In the past, the few Bantu students who did receive
scholarships mainly went to the Soviet military academy because at the time there was very little interest among Somalis in studying in that country.

General discrimination by the majority Somalis has further excluded the Bantu from virtually any but the most menial positions in Somali-run organizations. These positions generally do not require literacy, thus further decreasing the need for the Bantu to pursue formal education.

IOM officials report that while some Bantu children in the refugee camps attend primary and secondary school, only an estimated 5% of all Bantu refugees have been formally educated. Some Somali refugees refused to allow their children to study alongside Bantu children. This resulted in some Somali students attending separate classes, and, in some cases, separate schools, from the Bantu. Educating boys has been the priority for Bantu parents, although some female children attend primary school with a smaller number pursing secondary education.

Knowledge of English

The Bantu from the Lower Juba River valley arrived in the Dadaab refugee camps with virtually no members among them able to speak English. Some Bantu who were living on the Somali coast prior to the civil war, however, were able to speak some English.
While in the refugee camps, some of the adult Bantu refugees began to learn English informally. The Bantu children in the Dadaab refugee camps who attended primary school were taught according to the Kenyan national education system, which normally uses English as the medium of instruction in secondary school with an introduction to English in primary school.

The IOM estimates that approximately 5% of the adult Bantu refugees (mostly males) are proficient in English. Bantu children attending CARE International primary and secondary schools have learned to speak some English.