Iraqi schools, once renowned, still reeling from war

The US has rebuilt and resupplied Iraqi schools. But amid continued sectarian violence and attacks on educational institutions and teachers, the system still needs security and hope.

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"When I left Iraq [in 2007] there were no liquor stores. A boy was not allowed to wear shorts," recalls the teacher. "By the time I came back, in [my neighborhood] alone, there were four liquor stores next to each other – it's out in the open now."

Why It Matters

Iraq's once-vaunted educational system has suffered for decades – and more intensely in the violence that followed the US invasion. Education is key to a stable Iraq, but requires more than supplies and new classrooms to thrive.

Normal education still far off

Also awaiting her return were some improvements in the education system. Salaries for professors were raised to about $2,000 per month – compared with the average Iraqi income of $185 per month. Figures from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for 2003 to 2007 state that the United States had "rehabilitated in full or in part" 2,962 schools, provided 8.7 million math and science textbooks, and facilitated workshops and training for 1,500 Iraqi faculty. In late June, the US embassy and Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education announced a multiyear project: to fund close links between five US and five Iraqi universities.

But one parent of a dentistry graduate says her daughter had to share some textbooks with nine other students. "They make it sound so good," the parent said of the USAID statistics. "I wish every single word of it were true – but it isn't."

During the meeting with Dr. Biden, the English teacher said the US efforts "have made some difference.... You have brought so many things to our doorstep." But Biden also heard about "outdated methods" and old textbooks.

These teachers know that the problems are longstanding. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, stringent United Nations sanctions kept out everything from scientific journals to, at times, pencils. In its annual report on Iraq in 2002, the UN Children's Fund found "severe shortages of basic school supplies."

Today, many aspects of normal education remain a dream in Iraq. "This is the problem with a generation," says the first teacher. She cites her son who doesn't want to take or pass his exams. "I think we have to change the quality of life they are living, before we can talk about the kind of education we give them. How can you give them security? How can you give them hope?"

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