Jonathan Starr is an American, a former hedge fund manager who quit his job to start a world-class school In Abaarso Village, Somaliland. In his book "it takes a school", he discusses his journey of creating a first-class school in Somaliland. Jonathan was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. He attended Emory University, where he received a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Economics.
Jonathan's aunt married to a Somali man named Bille from Ceerigaabo.Bill graduated from Sheikh Secondary School, and one of the thirteen students were admitted into American universities in the 1960s. He graduated from Boston University and Syracuse University. Bille was a long-time employee of the United Nations, living in New York City. Jonathan used to attend in his teens a family get-together where he would hear Billeh lamenting that his people in Somaliland couldn't access the good schooling they used to get in the 50s and 60s due to lack of recognition.
Johnathan was pursuing his career ambitions but was consumed by Billeh's dreams to improve the lives of his people back home. Jonathan was running an investment firm and was making good money, but it was not satisfying his curiosity and dreams to create "something special". He decided to return the money to investors and close the firm. He called Billeh and told him he wanted to help the people of Somaliland. They travelled together to Somaliland, where he would meet with some people Billeh knew and told them he committed to starting a good school in Somaliland to "produce future leaders of the country". When he arrived, the first choice of Somaliland students was SOS in Sheikh. Jonathan participated in SOS administrated exam to enlist students for his new school. The students would list SOS and Abaarso as their first and second choices. Most of the Student's choice was SOS as Abaarso was not yet known and was taking the first class. SOS was taking only 50 out 126. The Other students who didn't make it to SOS considered themselves "leftovers".Jonathan had difficulty convincing the students to register for his new school. He told them that the best thing that happened to them was that they were not admitted to Sheikh and promised his school would be better than SOS. Jonathan donated $500,000 from his pocket to build the school, and the first-class started their education in 2009.
He transitioned his students From "rote memorization to critical thinking,". He encouraged his students to ask questions and interact with their teachers. He taught classes on logic to "challenge his student's brains to think, not to memorize."
Some bad behaviours that were normal in other schools, like cheating the exam and littering, were not tolerable in his school. He was adamant about setting high standards for his students. He stated clearly Abaarso's values—tenacity, critical thinking, and integrity —that every Student is required to follow. He introduced community service, sports and extracurricular activities and orphanage tutoring programs. The Student's great performance convinced some of the best boarding schools in the United States to sponsor some Abaarso students to spend one year at their campus or attend summer programs.
The abaarso Student had proven wrong to the doubters who believed they couldn't compete internationally after getting good grades at the boarding schools. Jonatan sold his Student's performance to American Universities. Dozens of students were accepted into American Universities —some of them got accepted at Ivey leagues like Harvard, MIT and Dartmouth.
He explains later in the book some of the tremendous challenges that could cause the school to be closed. Khadar, a Somali -American who had secured the land for the school, had claimed that he owned the school. He spread misinformation that the school teaches something contrary to Islam and converts students to Christianity. Some media run articles accusing Abaarso of diluting the culture and religion. Moreover, some schools that felt threatened exploited religious and cultural fears to prevent entry to good schools.
In recent years, there has been widespread condemnation against Abaarso and Barwaaqo University for allegedly spreading immorality and converting the students to Christianity. I was told some parents pull their children out of school due to believing what is being said against the school or fearing the safety of their children. There was a fuss on social media to close down the school.
Abaarso is one of the rare success stories in Somali regions. It gives me hope to see hundreds of Somalis admitted into the best schools. We need more schools like Abaarso so our children can compete internationally. Nevertheless, nothing is more important than preserving the people's culture and religion; thus, the government should take an oversight role. The parents must forge a close relationship with their children to know what they are taught. The school shall also refrain from anything against the culture and religion of the society it operates.
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