Grad rates jump for Toronto Somali students thanks to programs geared to help

2015/10/14 Leave a comment

Despite the earlier controversy by some in the Somali-Canadian community, appears that this kind of targeted program can work:

The plan runs the gamut: Nudging Somali-speaking teens into taking leadership roles at school; ensuring their culture and faith are part of their courses; training their teachers; reaching out to their parents.

And over an eight-year period, those efforts have paid off: 80 per cent of Somali teens now earn high school diplomas, a jump of 27 percentage points between 2005 and 2013.

While the community still struggles in the school system — results on the Grade 10 literacy test and standardized math tests continue to lag, as well as the number of credits teens earn in Grades 9 and 10 — the increase in graduates means the plan has almost closed the gap with the Toronto District School Board’s overall rate of 83 per cent.

“When we have such a high-level of buy-in from students and the community, inevitably we trend toward improvement,” said Jim Spyropoulos, executive superintendent in charge of equity and inclusive schools. He predicts Somali youth will soon surpass the board-wide graduation rate.

He attributes the boost to programs funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Education that help schools in at-risk urban neighbourhoods, as well as board initiatives geared toward providing social, emotional and academic support specifically for Somali students, plus training to help educators create a classroom that reflects the diversity of the city.

Improved grad rates were being achieved even before a task force to help Somali teens — vehemently opposed by a vocal group in the community — was set up.

Spyropoulos said the task force’s 2014 recommendations, which include mentoring and university planning, were built on the previous initiatives.

“The kids were telling us what’s working,” and those initiatives were included in the task force plan, he said.

The community has changed over the years, he added. Twenty years ago, many of the Somali teens in Toronto schools were recent arrivals from a war-torn country. Today, they’re mainly Canadian-born kids who face different stressors — including trail-blazing for the next generation.

“Eighty per cent of them are now born in Canada,” added Spyropoulos. “We need to be effectively plugged into the community as to what are the realities of today, coping with second-generation stresses.”

Part of the focus will be on post-secondary education, which the board is tracking, because “these kids are pioneers… when they go (on to post-secondary), they change the world for generations after” who will then be more likely to go to college or university.

Among Somali teens who graduated in 2005, 24 per cent were accepted into an Ontario university and 13 per cent to college. Among the 2013 group, 41 per cent went to university, and 20 per cent to college. The university enrolment rate is lower than that of the board as a whole, which is 50 per cent.

Source: Grad rates jump for Somali students thanks to programs geared to help | Toronto Star

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Toronto Police team with other forces to help Somali community

2015/01/19 Leave a comment

Some good community policing initiatives here in addition to the exchange program with Minneapolis:

Toronto Police spent roughly $500,000 to employ six officers of Somali background in 23 Division as part of a Somali Liaison Unit, a renewable two-year project as a way to build trust in the predominantly Somali community and to engage youth, Deputy Chief Peter Sloly said at a policing conference at Woodbine Banquet Hall Saturday.

“The connections between Toronto, Minneapolis, Edmonton and Ft. McMurray … it’s a large issue that involves senior police leaders,” Sloly said. “We’re applying that neighbourhood approach. We’ve employed those police officers on Dixon Rd., right around Woodbine Racetrack, they’re in there for two years and develop trusting long-lasting relationships and a deep knowledge of community conditions.”

Toronto’s Somali liaison unit has been in place since 2013 and will likely be renewed at the end of this year, Sloly said.

“We did a high-risk project in spring of 2013 (Project Traveller) and the three years before then, we had over 20 shooting incidents every year and 10 homicides every year and the two years since we’ve had this unit in place, we’ve only had one shooting and no homicides,” he said. “That’s because of great local leadership.”

Toronto Police are also working with Positive Change Toronto, an advocacy group that formed to bring down gun violence in North Etobicoke, particularly in the Dixon Rd. and Queen’s Plate Dr. areas.

“When we formed in 2012, that was the summer of the gun,” explained PCT spokesman Idil Burale. “There were way too many funerals. Something had to change. In the past two years, we’ve seen people call these police officers directly, rather than call the police. They were coming forward with information more. A lot of young men in our community are interested in becoming police officers.”

Toronto Police team with other forces to help Somali community | Home | Toronto.

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Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary, fighting for ISIS, dead in Iraq, reports say – Politics – CBC News

2014/08/19 Leave a comment

Hard to feel any sympathy for Shirdon given his actions and rhetoric but we can for family members:

Farah Mohamed Shirdon, a Calgarian fighting overseas with the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, was seen in the video burning his Canadian passport and threatening to destroy Iraq’s oppressors.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of reports that a Canadian was killed in Iraq and is following the situation closely.

Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary, fighting for ISIS, dead in Iraq, reports say – Politics – CBC News.

A good profile on Shirdon in The National Post:

Mr. Little said he didn’t recognize his friend in the video.

“It clearly wasn’t him anymore,” he said. When he learned of his death, Mr. Little tweeted: “The guy I knew was already dead inside, it’s still very disheartening to hear the news about my former friend. R.I.P. Farah Shirdon”

….. Mr. Shirdon’s family, including a mother, two brothers and at least one sister, were members of Calgary’s Somali-Canadian community.

Mohamed Jama, the Somali Canadian Society of Calgary president, described the family as “normal.”

“It’s very hard for his family,” he said. “Even the parents have no idea why this young man has [gone] to join this radical group.”

Mr. Jama was unaware Mr. Shirdon had been killed, calling the news “shocking.”

On a Twitter account believed to belong to Mr. Shirdon, a tweet from June read, “Beheading Shias is a beautiful thing.”

The account, under the pseudonym Abu Usamah, had more than 10,000 followers.

Mr. Jama said the Somali community in Calgary didn’t understand why Mr. Shirdon radicalized.

“It’s very hard to believe,” he said. “Especially a young person who grew up in the Western [world] and goes to a place he has no ethnicity, no community, no language.”

Mr. Jama described the actions of ISIS as a “killing phenomena.”

Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Calgary ISIS fighter reportedly killed in Iraq, was ‘dead inside’ long ago, friend says

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For Somalia, “Team Canada” means more money, fewer jobs

2014/07/30 Leave a comment

Interesting profile in the Star about returning members of the Canadian Somali diaspora:

A study released last month by the Mogadishu think-tank Heritage Institute notes that “the relationship between returnees and locals in Somalia is complex.”

Security measures often keep the diaspora segregated since they are seen as influential, and therefore targeted by the Shabab. Also, as the report points out, “returnees often find it easier — and more advantageous from a professional networking point of view — to socialize disproportionately with other diaspora returnees.”

Of course the returning diaspora are not a cohesive group. “Generally, non-diaspora Somali communities grasp the diversity among the diaspora returnees,” writes report author Maimuna Mohamud. “They distinguish, for example, between the ‘good diaspora’ who have been successful in their host countries, and the ‘bad’ ones who failed to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.”

Al-Jazeera journalist Hamza Mohamed poked fun at the stereotypes of the returning diaspora by their country of citizenship, dubbing those from Canada who are not part of Mogadishu’s who’s who as “Team Canada YOLO you only live once.”

“They are everyone’s friends. This group treats life as a party and Somalia as a dance floor,” Mohamed wrote in a column that went viral. “They usually arrive with few things — like a minor criminal record and a Mongolian scripture tattoo they got while under the influence on a night out in Toronto. It’s hard to find them talking about serious issues. Don’t mention school — they have usually dropped out of school and are sensitive discussing this subject. If you want them to unfriend you on Facebook, tag them in photos from your graduation ceremony.”

For Somalia, “Team Canada” means more money, fewer jobs | Toronto Star.

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