Monday, April 25, 2011

Community News : Somali girl with top grades not good enough for Oxford.

Five top grades at A-level were not enough to win a Somalian girl a place, as university admits she was 'disadvantaged' by their admissions process Oxford University has admitted that it bungled when it failed to offer an interview to a bright black student from one of Britain’s most deprived areas. Somalian-born Fatima Yusuf, 19, had applied to study medicine at Merton College after obtaining the highest possible grades in five A-level subjects and 11 A* grades in her GCSEs. She was penalised by the university because she took five of her GCSEs as a 13-year-old — an achievement that would normally have indicated academic strength.However, as she gained the remainder of her GCSEs at a more normal age, the university’s admissions department disregarded her results because they had not been taken in a single sitting. It now recognises this was a mistake.The university also marked her down because she went to an obscure college in east London and it could not find any results for the institution to compare Fatima with her fellow students.Fatima was forced to appeal and the university conceded that she had been “disadvantaged” by its admissions process. As a result, she was given an interview but still failed to gain a place. Fatima, who lives in Edmonton, north London, said this weekend: “I didn't want preferential treatment, but I wanted fair treatment and I don't think I got it. Fatima’s father, Bashir, said: “Fatima was a beacon of hope for the Somali community and an example of what you can achieve“The feeling in the community now is that Oxford is off limits because they’ve seen what happened to Fatima and they see what looks like an elitist institution where people from humble backgrounds are not welcome.”Oxford’s rejection of Fatima has emerged after David Cameron said its admission rate for black students was “disgraceful”. The university hit back, accusing the prime minister of using misleading figures, and pointing out it had invested millions of pounds in trying to attract students from all backgrounds.Fatima, the eldest of seven children, was a baby when her parents fled war-torn Somalia in 1992. They settled in Edmonton, where Bashir now works as a manager in a Somalian community centre.It is a highly disadvantaged area. An Enfield council report in 2009 noted: “In Edmonton the indicators of multiple deprivation have shown that our population experiences low attainment in education, higher levels of crime, low income, poor health, housing problems and a poor quality environment.”Gang violence is commonplace. Last Sunday, Negus McLean, 15, was stabbed to death there in a gang attack as he tried to protect his younger brother.Fatima attended her local primary school and went to study at an Islamic boarding school in Nottingham. She was homesick and her family struggled to pay the fees, so she left after a year. With no immediate offer of a suitable state school place, she studied for months on her own despite the noise from her younger siblings in the family’s rented terraced home. “It was difficult because I didn’t have a school, but I went to libraries where it was quieter,” she said. “I enjoyed learning and I was motivated to get qualifications.”She briefly attended a state school, Kingsmead in Enfield, but did not feel sufficiently challenged. She then went to a private tuition college and achieved five GCSE A*s by the time she was 13.Fatima then studied for A-levels in the sixth form at Seven Kings high school, a comprehensive in Ilford, Essex. She obtained three A*s in A-levels on top of two A grade A-levels taken at her tuition college before the star system was introduced.In September 2010, after taking a year out from her studies, she applied to study medicine, making Merton her first choice. She also applied for a place at University College London and King’s College London.A trip to Somalia five years earlier had inspired her choice of career. She said: “I saw the impact of the civil war, the death and destruction, and people lying on the streets without medical care. It made me think that if I did become a doctor, I would be able to help.”On November 30, she was told by Oxford that she was not being invited for interview, based on her GCSE results and her scores for a BioMedical Admission Test used to assess potential medical students.She appealed and her father alerted David Lammy, the former universities minister who has highlighted the challenges faced by ethnic minorities applying for university. Oxford admitted in December that it had erred in not offering Fatima an interview.It transpired that her GCSE results had not even been considered. An email from preclinical medicine admissions admitted that “the assessment of your application was conducted without reference to your GCSE performance” and explained that this was partly because her exams had not been taken at “a single sitting” and partly because the university had been unable to find any published results for her tuition college.The email, seen by The Sunday Times, added: “The fact that your GCSEs have been achieved at a number of sittings is, in your case, an indication of academic strength rather than weakness and the results that you have achieved must be viewed as excellent in any context.”Fatima’s GCSE results were in fact better than the average GCSE results of students who were offered a place to read medicine in 2010. According to Oxford’s own figures, the average candidate had 9-10 A* grades at GCSE, compared with Fatima’s 11.It conceded that its approach “may have disadvantaged” Fatima and she was offered interviews. However, less than a week after the interviews she was told she was not being offered a place. Her experience is reminiscent of the case of Laura
Spence, a state school student whose rejection for a place to study medicine at Oxford University in 2000 caused a political storm.Paul Kelley, headmaster of Monkseaton high school on Tyneside, Spence’s former school, said: “I think the admissions system in many ways has not moved on in the last decade. In America, top universities hunt this kind of person down.”
Fatima’s case has emerged as Britain’s leading universities face a challenge over their record in encouraging ethnic minorities. When Fatima was in the midst of her application to Oxford, Lammy released figures which he said showed that 21 out of Oxbridge’s 69 colleges had admitted no black students in the previous year. Merton had not accepted a black student for the five years before 2010, he said.Oxford said it had taken 27 black undergraduates and that 19% of its intake are from ethnic minorities — higher than the population as a whole. The university believes it is being unfairly criticised and is working to broaden its intake. Applications from state schools have risen by 80% over the past decade.Despite some success stories, Oxford’s own analysis shows that a lower percentage of applicants from a number of ethnic minorities are accepted than white applicants. In 2010 black African applicants had an average success rate of 6.7%, while white applicants had a 24.1% success rate. The university argues that part of the problem is that many black applicants choose to apply to its most over-subscribed courses, where competition is fiercest. Nearly 30% of black applicants to Oxford University want to study medicine.Oxford says attainment at school is the single biggest barrier. In 2009, 29,000 white students got the requisite grades for Oxford compared with 452 black students.Fatima, who won a place to read medicine at UCL is not bitter but believes Oxford should scrutinise its admissions procedures to ensure its equality policies are properly implemented.Oxford said in a statement: “We do not discriminate in favour of or against anyone on the basis of race or any other non-academic factor.
“Clearly, the candidate in question is academically excellent. However, there were 1,472 applicants this year for only 152 places to study medicine at Oxford, and in the academic judgment of six or more medical experts there were at least 152 other candidates who demonstrated even higher ability and potential through the selection process.” The Sunday Times - Oxford 'off limits' to star black pupil
11 A* grades in her GCSEs. She was penalised by the university because she took five of her GCSEs as a 13-year-old 
JUST LIKE SHABAAB penalised13-year old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow Speaking 13-Year-Old Somali Rape Victim Stoned to Death in Front of 1000 Spectators

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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