"While in labor for only a few hours, she took the exam"

"While in labor for only a few hours, she took the exam"

Life sometimes presents a person with a test harder than the one they are taking with a pen and paper, this is the story of Saabriin, a Somali student who gave birth to her second child on the last day of the high school graduation exam.

As announced by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education of Somalia, the high school exams in Somalia concluded this Thursday, held in more than 150 centers located in various parts of the country, although some areas were not included.

Saabriin Cali Caddow, an 18-year-old, was among more than 44,000 students who sat for the graduation exam this year. Saabriin was not just a student like others, but she was also among young mothers balancing education and motherhood during the academic year 2025-2026.

According to BBC Somali, Saabriin was a diligent student who fought for four years to reach the day she would sit for the most important exam of her educational life, despite facing various challenges during her pregnancy, she received support from family and friends, "I was encouraged by my parents, my husband, my teachers, and my friends at school, they motivated me, they stood by me and always corrected me when I made mistakes, my friends accompanied me on that long journey."

Saabriin's family, now consisting of four members, stated that she got married nearly three years ago, and the baby girl she just gave birth to will be her second child, following her first child who is 22 months old.

She used to live in the village of Miir-taqwo under the Mahadaay district in the Shabeellada-dhexe region of Somalia, where she started her education at the lower secondary level, although she currently resides, as she told us, in the Jahmuuriya neighborhood of the Hurwaa district in the Banaadir region.

When she spoke about how she entered the exam while now living in Banaadir, Saabriin said, "I initially attended school in Miir-Taqwo, I moved to Hurwaa in 2022, the school opened another center in Yaaqshiid, and that’s how I continued from there."

I took the exam in Balcad, as I was required to register in that region, I had to take the exam in that same region."

Time of labor and the decision to complete the exam

She prepared for the exam for months, dedicating day and night to reading and effort. Although she was pregnant in the last months, she did not give up her educational aspirations, believing that pregnancy would not be an obstacle to her dream.

In the first days of the exam, there was no pressure or pain that prevented her from entering the exam subjects, although she was aware that she was in the last days of her pregnancy, she indicated that those days felt no different from previous exams, but they were "memorable."