Education Scores High in Iraq

Education is a success story with a few qualifiers. In all three parts of the country, large majorities of Iraqis told us they believed education had improved -- both in terms of the schools themselves and the quality of teaching.

Education has always been a magnet for reconstruction efforts -- perhaps because there's nothing controversial about helping children.

The World Bank signed a $60 million grant agreement with the Ministry of Education in October 2004, money specifically targeted for school repairs. The nongovernmental organization Mercy Corps alone has built 50 new schools.

NGOs and U.S. officials report an abundance of quality teachers, most of whom are getting more money than they did before the war. Those higher salaries are luring back some of the better teachers who left after the 1991 sanctions were imposed.

Security issues still present problems in this area. The beginning of the 2004 school year was delayed twice because of violence and instability. Fear has driven some families to keep their kids at home, especially girls.

Anecdotally, one of our teams heard reports of kidnappings at a girls' secondary school in Kirkuk. No one has hard numbers on attendance rates. The targeting and assassinations of professors and high level academic professionals is a particularly troubling trend.

Facts and Figures

20,000 schools nationwide; 11,368 are up and running.

4.3 million primary students nationwide.

Average teacher salary: $100-$300 per month, compared to $5-13 per month prewar.

(All from UNICEF)

As of October 2004, 3,100 schools had been rebuilt or refurbished.

(U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

The World Bank signed a $60 million grant agreement with the Iraq Ministry of Education on Oct. 13, 2004, to cover construction of new buildings and urgent repairs on existing schools.

USAID distributed 185,000 desks, 808,000 school kits and 81,735 teacher kits.