UN says thousands of schools in Iraq lack basics for decent education

by repost

Fri, Oct 15, 2004 11:31PM

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Thousands of schools in Iraq lack the basics for decent education and over 700 have been damaged by bombing, more than 200 burned, and over 3,000 looted, according to a United Nations-backed survey.

The survey, conducted by the Iraqi Ministry of Education and released yesterday by the United Nations Children's Fund, found that one-third of all primary schools lack water and almost half have no sanitation facilities.

"Iraq used to have one of the finest school systems in the Middle East," Roger Wright, the UNICEF representative for Iraq, said in a statement. "Now we have clear evidence of how far the system has deteriorated. The system is overwhelmed."

The survey of some 20,000 institutions - from kindergartens through teachers' training institutes - found that millions of Iraqi children are attending overcrowded schools with crumbling walls, broken windows and leaking roofs.

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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20041016T000000-0500_67734_OBS_UN_SAYS_THOUSANDS_OF_SCHOOLS_IN_IRAQ_LACK_BASICS_FOR_DECENT_EDUCATION.asp

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