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Accomplishments: Education
Quality education contributes to equality, stability, economic growth, and improved well-being of Iraqi families. For Iraq to prosper, student enrollment, retention, and quality of education in the school system are critical. Working closely with Iraqis and with the Ministry of Education (MOE), USAID's goals are to increase enrollment and improve the quality of primary and secondary education, ensure that classrooms have sufficient materials, facilitate community involvement, train teachers, implement accelerated learning programs, and establish partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi colleges and universities. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, a whole generation of Iraqis grew up disconnected from the rest of the world. Unemployment and low salaries forced Iraqis to abandon professional jobs and accept menial labor. Professional talent declined in health, private enterprise and education. Economic conditions led to poor labor efficiency where the available labor pool was ill-matched to economic opportunity. This mismatch led to poor economic and social returns on education.
- Provided assistance for the resumption of the Ministry of Education (MOE) functions.
- Created education coordination groups in North, South and Central Iraq.
- Provided assistance for resumption of MOE salaries.
- Funded $5.5 million for development and administration of examinations for transitional grades, which ensured the smooth continuation of school.
- Conducted secondary school status survey in all permissive areas in the country (3,300 schools in total).
- Rehabilitated 1,774 schools for the 2003-04 school year.
- Awarded 298 grants worth $4.2 million to rehabilitate schools and the Education Directorate General (DG) offices across the country. Acceleration of the grants program is currently under implementation.
- Delivered to date:
- Distributed 1.2 million secondary student kits.
- To secondary schools: 100% of 142,762 student desks, 85% of 24,418 teacher desks, 91% of 57,204 teacher chairs, 69.9% of 24,370 metal cabinets and 100% of 58,000 chalkboards.
- To primary schools: 100% of the 808,000 primary student kits; and 100% of the 81,735 primary teacher kits.
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Edited 48 math and science textbooks grades 1-12; 5,299,000 books printed to date. 70% printed in Iraq and 30% in Jordan.
- 68% of a planned 5.6 million books have been delivered to Baghdad and 87% to remaining governorates country-wide.
- Trained 258 Master Trainers in Baghdad while developing concurrently a country wide teacher and administration staff training program. Training at the Governorate levels will continue November 2003-January 2004.
- Training for approximately 33,000 secondary school teachers and 3,000 secondary school administration staff on-going through January 2004.
- Surveyed 4000 out of school students from grades 1-8 and successfully registered 566 for 5 pilot programs. Began program in Baghdad, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah, Kerbala on November 15 and in Erbil on November 22.
- After a 14-year absence, the Fulbright Scholarship Program has returned to Iraq. The program will award at least 20 scholarships for Iraqis to study in the United States in 2004.
- Awarded 5 grants worth $15 million to strengthen partnerships between American and Iraqi universities. Awards include:
- A consortium led by Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY/Stony Brook) will partner with Iraqi institutions in the field of Archeology and Environmental Research;
- University of Hawaii/College of Agriculture and Human Resource for strengthening academic, research and extension programs
- Human Rights Institute, DePaul University/College of Law and the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (Italy) for reforming the legal education system in Iraq;
- Jackson State University for Public Health and Sanitation
- Three Iraqi universities--Al Anbar University, Al Basrah University, and the University of Salah ad Din--will create a partnership with a U.S. university consortium led by the University of Oklahoma. Specifically, the partnership will focus on developing Iraqi university infrastructure and connectivity, library and information services, and discipline-specific needs and opportunities for international collaboration and exchange.
Ministry of Education Baseline School Statistics, October 2003
| Students | | School sessions |
|---|
| Kindergarten | 53,499 | | Kindergarten | 631 |
| Primary | 4,280,602 | | Primary | 13,413 |
| Secondary | 1,454,775 | | Secondary | 4,155 |
| Vocational | 62,841 | | Vocational | 258 |
| Teacher Training | 66,139 | | Teacher Training | 171 |
| Total | 5,917,856 | | Total | 18,628 |
| Teachers | | Buildings |
|---|
| Kindergarten | 2,993 | | Kindergarten | 631 |
| Primary | 206,953 | | Primary | 11,066 |
| Secondary | 74,681 | | Secondary | 2,968 |
| Vocational | 4,693 | | Vocational | 158 |
| Teacher Training | 2,984 | | Teacher Training | 101 |
| Total | 292,304 | | Total | 14,924 |
Statistics based on UNESCO and UNICEF numbers |
Student Gender Distribution
| | Kindergarten | Primary | Secondary | Vocational | Teacher Training |
|---|
| Girls | 48.73% | 44.47% | 40.28% | 19% | 62% |
| Boys | 51.27% | 55.53% | 59.72% | 81% | 38% |
Statistics based on UNESCO and UNICEF numbers |
School Building Conditions
| Schools in need of demolition or rebuilding | 1,343 | 9% of all schools |
| Schools in need of major rehabilitation | 5,970 | 40% of all schools |
| Schools damaged in some way | 11,939 | 80% of all schools |
Statistics based on UNESCO and UNICEF numbers |
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