Graduation Of First Somaliland Doctors

“The Medical College is affiliated with the UK’s King’s College which will be preparing and conducting the final examinations,” said Gulaid.

With seven colleges, 1000 students, 126 faculty and staff and the number of graduates reaching 400 by the time of the 6th commencement due to be held in July 2007, Amoud University has come a long way from its inception in 1997 with sixty students, a couple of classes and less than 10 teachers.

“Today the university has almost covered its expenses and we have already paid the salaries of December,” said Gulaid.

He added that the structural expansion of the university included a women’s hostel built by the European Union, currently accommodating 50 people with the possibility of adding a second storey in future to make it accommodate up to 100 students. The EU has also allocated US$ 120,000 for the building of eight new lecture halls.

“In addition to that the EU has donated a 120-kVA generator and 60 computers to the University, while giving postgraduate scholarships to four former graduates to Kenyan universities,” he added.

The University has also opened a Distance Learning and Electronic Center where students will follow online postgraduate courses through the African Virtual University, AVU, of which Amoud is a partner. The AVU has equipped the center with 30 state-of-the-art computers, and it will soon provide satellite dishes and other facilities.

“We are also excited that Amoud has been selected as the East African representative in the AVU Board of Directors after defeating Tanzania for the post,” Professor Gulaid said.

“We have recently added another two faculties, so we now have a total of seven colleges including education, business administration, medicine, agriculture and environment, distance learning and IT, nursing and law and Islamic jurisprudence,” he said, adding that the University continues with its successful teachers’ diploma program the candidates of which come all the way from Puntland.

Established in 1997 as the first University in the breakaway Republic of Somaliland, Amoud had become the forerunner for the country’s institutions of higher learning. In less than a decade another three universities have been found to follow the footsteps of the Amoud. They include Hargeysa University opened in 2000, University of Buroa 2004 and the Berbera College for Fisheries and Marine Studies 2005.

Source: Awdalnews

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