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As told by

Mulki

Country of birth: Somalia

Year of Birth: 1976

Country(ies) attended School: Somalia

Name of City or Countryside where school was attended: Mogadishu

Size or population of the City or Countryside where school was attended: 1.5 million

Years of Education before coming to the U.S.: 8 years

Date(s) of Interview: October 2006

Please answer the following questions, relating to your experience.

1.How old were you when you first went to school? Where was the school and for how long did you go?

I was 6 years old. The school was in Mogadishu, Somalia. I finished middle school.

2. Did you attend any other schools? Where were they and for how long did you go?

No.

3. Was there ever a time in your life that you did not go to school? If so, how old were you and why did you stop going to school?

Yes. When I was 14 years old, I stopped because of the civil war.

4. What kind of school did you go to? (Public, private, etc)

I went to public school.

5. How many students were in the classes?

There were 35-40 students in the class.

6. What hours of the day and what days of the week did you go to school?

I used to go to school from 7:15 am up to 2:00 pm from Saturday to Thursday.

7. What did the class look like?

The classes were very big (enough for 40 students).

8. How did the students dress for school?

We used to wear three kinds of uniforms, it was according to the grade (grades one to four – short blue pants and short white shirts, grades five to eight – full tan pants and yellow shirts.

9. Did you have recess? What games did you play?

Yes, we used to play some sports.

10. How are schools in the city different from the schools in the countryside?

In my country, there were no schools in the countryside.

11. Did you have to pay for school? How is school paid for?

No, no one pays for our school, the school was public school and it was free.

12. If you can’t pay, what did you do?

13. What did you study?

We used to take many subjects such as Science, Geography, History, Math, Government, Somali, Arabic and Diin (religious subject).

14. What kind of materials did you use in class?

Both teachers and students used chairs, a table, black board and chalk.

15. What was the structure of the class? Did the teacher lecture to you, ask the class questions, have you get into small groups?

The teachers used to lecture and then ask students questions.

16. Who teaches the class? Does anyone else help out the class?

The teacher teaches the class. No one else helps out in the class unless the parents are educated.

17. As a student, what do you expect from yourself?

I expect to attend the class, to respect the teacher, and pass the test.

18. What is your idea of a perfect student?

My idea of a perfect student is to respect the laws and the rules of the school.

19. In your country, how did the teachers act toward their students?

It depends on the person, some teachers send students to the office, some call the parents, and some suspend students.

20. In you mind, how does an excellent teacher talk and behave?

An excellent teacher must be honest and teach perfectly.

21. How were you disciplined in school in your country?

My country's school discipline was mainly related to three areas. School activities you’re your assignments on due time, respect students and teachers, and citizenship - to be patriotic like at that time's military revolution. I can imagine that the priority was orientation towards becoming very loyal to the ruling military.

22. What happens if you don’t get the right answer or if you don’t do your work?

Some teachers give a chance to do the work, some do not and talk to the student's parents.

23. What happens if you’re not in school – can you skip for any reason?

Yes, you can skip for some reasons.

24. How did you review your homework – where did you study after school?

I used to study at home.

25. How did you get to school? Did teachers go to your house?

I used to come to school by foot. The teachers did not go the student's home.

26. What happens if you were late to class?

Some teachers allow students to be late to the class, some did not.

27. How were your parents involved in your education? Did your parents meet the teachers?

Did you have report cards?

Educated parents are involved the student's education. Yes, my parents used to come the school and meet the teachers.

28. In your family, what was more valued: your achievements, career and future – or the needs and desires of your family?

For me, I would have liked to be a lawyer, but my family wanted me to end up a doctor.

29. Who can go to college? What does a person have to do to get accepted?

Everyone who graduates from high school, completes two years of government services and passes the entrance exams.

30. What are the tests like for college?

31. How do you get money to go to college?

The college was free unless the college was private.

32. What if you don’t have the money?

If you decide to go to private college and don't have money, you will not go.

33. How were your teachers trained – did they go to college? How long did they go? Were there men and women teachers?

The teachers who teach high school, college, and university mostly graduate from the university but the teachers who teach middle school and elementary school usually take special training, which lasts 1 year.

34. In school did you sing songs about your country?

Yes. We used to sing the song of the flag.

35. Did you have flags in your schools?

No.

36. How was religion involved in your education? Describe.

We usually take two subjects which are related to religion, so the religion was involved our education.

37. Is the school system the same for boys and girls? What did people expect from girls in

school? Is this different than what was expected from the boys?

Both boys and girls have the same rights at school, but most of the teenagers used to get married at the age of the 15 years old and then used to drop the school.

38. What surprised you when you began to go to school in the United States?

I was surprised when I saw many people from many different countries speaking a variety languages taking the same class and learning the same language.

39. What do you need the teachers, students and school to be like in order for you to be happy and comfortable in the classroom?

I like the teachers to be friendly, students should be happy and classes must be well supplied.

40. What was the most important thing you learned in school in your home country?

The most important thing that I learned in school in my country was the continents of the world.

41. What do you remember most about school in hour home country?

I remember when we were playing on the playground of the school with my classmates.

42. Who made the most significant impact on your education?

The most significant impact on my education was my parent who allowed me to go to school and helped me to learn how to write and read.

43. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in your home country?

I would like to add more educational pictures. I would let every class have 20 students. I would also say kids must go to school at the age of 4 years old (Head Start and High Five)

44. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in the United States?

The educational system in the United States is perfect. I would not like to change anything.

45. What educational dreams do you have for yourself?

I would like to be a doctor.

46. What are your educational dreams that you have for your children?

I would like my kids to be engineers, doctors and managers.

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