Barawa International University (BIU) which has been planned to open in May/June 2019, is located in the South West State of Somalia. The latter is among the few regions in Somalia underserved by higher education and therefore full of unemployable manpower. It hosts a strategic coastal port suitable for advancing economic development of Somalia. With booming entrepreneurship, it is also a region that that could doubly contribute to the Somalia GDP in this faster growing economy. Economic prosperity of Somalia can be achieved only when we have skilled personnel in professional areas. Unfortunately, the region hosts only secondary schools, which means that few of our Senior Four Graduates spend a lot of money travelling and attaining higher education in other regions of Somalia or abroad. Majority of our children cannot afford high costs in other regions. This means that if we open a University in our region here, higher education will be affordable to most of the senior four graduates in the region. Our economy in South West State and the entire Somali can only prosper is we invest in Higher Education. In order for us to build sustainable economy, our people must have professional skills, and these can only be obtained at the university level.
BIU graduates could transform micro-and macro-economic by narrowing the skills-gap in national and international problem-solving. Besides, this university will bring services and employment opportunities nearer to/for the inhabitants.
FACULTIES AND COURSES TO BEGIN WITH
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES AND ECONOMICS:
Courses Offered:
Bachelor of Science in Management Studies
Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management
Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Finance
Bachelor of Arts in Economics
Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
Bachelor of Arts in Banking and Finance
Bachelor of Arts in Shipping and Port Management
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES:
Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies
Bachelor of Arts in International Relations
Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration
SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES:
Bachelor of Science in Public Health
Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Technology
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING:
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BsCE)
Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Engineering (BSc in TELEN)
Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BsSE)
Bachelor of Science in Information & Communication Technology (BSc in ICT)
SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Science in Education
Bachelor of Arts in Education
SCHOOL OF ISLAMIC STUDIES:
Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies and Sharia
Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Language
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
Bachelor of Arts in English Language
Bachelor of Arts in English Literature
In response to the current dynamics of the socio-political development in Somalia, the University is preparing itself to effectively respond to the emerging and unfolding needs of the public service sector. Although the University is operating under strict budget and has certain human resources capacity limitations, it is in the process of establishing civil service training center where the nascent civil service of Somalia can be trained. However, to make this initiative fruitful, the University is in the process of establishing various centers. Besides the study, BIU is in touch with various international and local funding agents to support the formation of such centers.
BIU strives "to become a leading centre of academic and professional excellence and virtue in Eastern Africa".
BIU provides high quality education, research and community services with the commitment of excellence, integrity, and professionalism. The university is expected to produce competent scholars and leaders of high quality and moral uprightness. The mission of Barawa International University is abbreviated as (EIP):
Excellence (E)
Integrity (I)
Professionalism (P)
BIU will be committed to the following core values:
Excellence-Committed: Concerned to endeavors of the highest possible quality while striving to fulfill the university's mission and educational purposes, which involve a philosophy of continuous improvement based upon rigorous assessment and informed decision making.
Collectively-Driven: Dedicated to contribute to the advancement of society by building partnerships with students, alumni, business industry, public entities, the community and other players in the higher education scene.
Principle-Centered: Devoted to promote knowledge in a manner that prepares learners to be responsible, ethical, and patriotic while equipped with Islamic values of tolerance and mutual co-existence.
Continuous Learning: Equipped with the philosophy of spreading education that is career- oriented, theory and practice based, powered with critical thinking, and emphasized at active learning and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge.
BIU strives to achieve the following objectives:
Provide high quality academic and professional programs at all
Develop and disseminate contemporary learning techniques and models to create an excellent academic
Enhance the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of the students that produce competent scholars and leaders of high quality and moral
Facilitate scholarly researches and scientific studies in various areas that address national
Serve as a specialized center for training, research, and
Provide the opportunity for staff and faculty members to enable them develop and achieve social and professional development.
Establish gender and disability conscious atmosphere that contributes to the intellectual, cultural, social, and personal enrichment of all its
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
University's efforts to fulfill its mission and achieve its vision take place within a complex strategic environment that includes the university but extends far beyond it as well. If the University is to successfully fulfill its mission and achieve its vision, it is therefore necessary for it to understand its strategic environment.
The environment provides the university with Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) that must be managed properly in order to ensure long-term survival and success. Analyzing its internal strengths and weaknesses and assessing the external opportunities that it has and the threats facing it can best be understood by examining the University's strategic environment.
Certain external factors in the University's environment are worth noting: –
Dearth or scarcity of availability of qualified lecturers in the local market for long- term
Willing partners including NGOs with interest in education are potential sources of support
Need for skilled personnel in Somalia, as a whole, in the various sectors including government, NGO and Industry
Need for building capacity of personnel in general and those of the University in particular on areas of training, policy formulation and amendment, Public Administration, monitoring and evaluation, conflict resolution and peace building,
financial control, resource control and donor relations and advocacy, coordination and stakeholders management.
Need for embracing
Need for a well-prepared student body with skills that are required in Somalia and in the
Need for upgrading the standard of English language, other languages and Math in Somalia in
Internal Factors
Insufficient numbers of PhD
Demand to standardize admission policies, based on reviewed and developed syllabi and curricula.
Need for improving the standards of communication and IT skills
The following are the strengths of BIU:
a) Qualified Personnel
BIU will look into improving its quality since its inception by training its people and introducing new skills and technologies to the operations of the academics.
b) Reputation
BIU will focus on success in producing high quality scholars and building international image as well as providing community services.
c) Suitable Programs
BIU will provide its programs in a flexible manner; fulltime and part-time.
d) Curricula
BIU teaches standard and updated curricula that meets market and local needs.
e) Infrastructure
BIU will be equipped with the necessary infrastructure and resources.
f) Satisfied Students and Alumni
We anticipate that BIU students shall be well trained and have the necessary Attitude, Skills and Knowledge (ASK)
g) Employed Graduates
BIU graduates shall be highly active in the limited labor market of Somalia as well as participant innovators.
h) Affordable Tuition Fees
BIU is a tuition fees based university, but it will maintain affordable tuition fees. This provides it with a marketing advantage and the university will be searching other sources of financing to keep the tuition fees at minimum.
i) Adequate Systems for Staff Development
BIU has adequate plan for development of lecturers and staff through on-job training.
j) Attractive Growing Academic Programs
BIU is working towards attracting and retaining qualified professionals that could help our country to solve micro and macro-economic challenges. BIU shall outsource (hire) a few well-qualified professionals from outside Somalia.
a) Inadequate Support Services
BIU has identified several areas that need increased support. These areas include academic advancement, funding, power generations, larger cafeteria, and information technology among others.
b) Insufficient Funding
BIU is anticipated to experienced growth in student numbers and hence increasing demand on its resources, which have not been adequately received.
c) Shortage of land
The university does not have land for expansion to enable a successful academic environment. We are currently requesting government to allocate us land address this challenge.
d) Poor English Language
The medium of instruction of the university is English; however, the English proficiency of the students is poor due to lack or scarcity of English Language instructors in Somalia. We intend to solve this challenge through outsourcing.
e) Inadequate close Ties with Profit and Non-profit Organizations
BIU has not adequate close ties with profit and non-profit organizations yet but is currently seeking collaboration with international agencies, smart academic institutions in and outside Somalia. These could enable us incorporate necessary changes to respond to needs of the emerging economy.
a) BIU's Identity as "Progressive"
The University is seen as very progressive, which created positive perception to its various stakeholders.
b) Increase in Population
Overall the population of the area is growing and the population of secondary School Students is increasing without a single University in the whole of South West State of Somalia. Therefore, BIU will attract fresh students who are hungry for professional skills.
c) Growth in NGO activities
NGO activities are increasing as they seek to help Somali reconstruction. BIU and its Alumni are likely to excel or be participants in restructuring their own country.
d) Growth of Business activities
The number of business is growing which created high opportunity to the university and its graduates.
e) Collaboration
Many opportunities exist for collaboration with local, regional/state, national, and international entities as well as universities. BIU therefore has many opportunities to engage in international activities.
f) Qualified Professionals
There is growing need for qualified personnel in the limited labor market of Somalia due to the booming business sector and NGO Activities. BIU has already identified highly qualified staff in
Sub-Saharan Africa to help us build institutional capacity and increase chances of improving Somalia economy.
g) Donor Support
There is possible access to donor support
h) Attractive Growing Academic Program
Expressed need for the growing academic program by the local community, most government officials and other stakeholders
i) Growing need for Academic Programs
The demand for BIU programs is growing because students receive education that is very much in demand.
j) Supportive Community
The community surrounding the University is extremely supportive to the programs of the University.
a) Absence of a functional government in Somalia
The poor functioning of the government in Somalia makes operations difficult. But we are hopeful that BIU graduates could be participants of good governance in the near future.
b) Lack of Academic Rigor among Many Secondary Schools
In Somalia, serious questions exist about the degree to which many secondary schools provide rigorous Math and English language education.
c) Increased Competition
The competition for high-quality students has increased from completion offered by colleges, universities in East Africa and institutions of higher learning in the horn.