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As a step towards joining the East African Community (EAC), Somalia has revealed intentions to accelerate the implementation of Kiswahili in educational institutions.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud stated that the administration would speed up initiatives to integrate Kiswahili into the country’s educational framework at every level.

Somalia joined the East African Community as its eighth member in 2024, alongside Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”The Somali National University, along with all universities in Somalia, should play a leading role in promoting Kiswahili, the shared language of the East African region,” said President Mohamud on Tuesday during the opening of the second East African Cooperation and Economic Integration Conference (Eacon 2025) in Mogadishu.

This step represents the first instance where Somalia has officially aimed to include Kiswahili as a functional and educational language, in addition to Somali, Arabic, and English. Kiswahili is already an official language within the EAC and the African Union, and is spoken by more than 200 million people.

Kiswahili: How the standardized version of the East African language was created and gained worldwide recognitionEducation Minister Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir stated that the government is collaborating with regional organizations to establish a framework for teaching Kiswahili.“We are working to improve the study and application of the Kiswahili language in Somalia. We aim to see it serve as a language for communication, commerce, and education, potentially replacing English at our upcoming conference,” he mentioned.

The newly formed National Higher Education Board of Somalia is working alongside the East African Universities Association and the East African Qualifications Authority to align educational standards and credentials with those of other EAC nations.

The process will begin with educator preparation, development of educational programs, and the translation of instructional resources.

Read: Could Somalis influence the EAC lingua franca, Kiswahili? Officials claim the policy will enhance cultural exchange, trade, and collaboration with regional partners, while aiding Somalia’s broader integration into the bloc’s trade, legal, and educational frameworks. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.Syndigate.info).