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Iraqi Instability Threatens Education System
By Roshan Muhammed Salih, Arab News
June 6, 2004
School caretaker Um Muhammad has been forced to take radical measures as Iraq's lawlessness continues and her school is in danger of looting and vandalism.
Spates of robberies and break-ins have left teachers in fear of their lives and many parents fearing their children will be kidnapped.
The choice is stark - remove children from school or leave them at the mercy of thieves and kidnappers.
But the situation for those children who do regularly attend school is far from ideal.
After years of war, US-supported UN sanctions and neglect, Iraq's educational standards leave a lot to be desired.
In reconstruction talks held last year, the World Bank agreed to provide $100 million to help ensure Iraqi children get a good education.
But experts say the international and US funding that is being injected into the education system is only the tip of the iceberg of what Iraq's ailing school infrastructure actually requires.
Many Iraqi parents feel there is no hope for their children in occupied, post-Saddam Iraq.
Like many other headteachers, al-Jumaili, who is disabled, guarded her school from looters in the aftermath of the foreign invasion.
"After the war last year there were big problems with things like electricity and the water supply to the school. But the major headache was security," she said.
"There was no security because the Americans did not have a plan for after the war. I was forced to stay here with my husband to guard the school.
"And even now parents are scared to send their children here because of the dangers."
Shatt al-Arab School's al-Jumaili doesn't see any light at the end of the tunnel, however.
"I am not hopeful. At the moment the education system is in a mess. As long as the Americans stay there will be no security, but when they leave I think the education ministry will keep all the money for themselves."
"I just pray the kids in my school stay in Iraq because they have to build a future for our country. If they don't, who will?"
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