Comment: Conflict Foils Change in Schools and Universities

War changed that – first the decade-long conflict with Iran, then the first Gulf War, and finally the effects of United Nations sanctions from 1991. The school system began to collapse, and enrolment fell as many children, functioning in survival mode like the adults around them, were forced to earn money rather than study. Within a decade, only 53 per cent of children were enrolled in schools, according to the US Agency for International Development.

By the time the US-led Coalition overthrew Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, Iraq's schools and its educational system were in shambles.

With Saddam gone, though, there were rays of hope: Enrolment began to climb again, while the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, the US government, Iraq's education ministry and other powerful actors promised to rebuild thousands of crumbling schools and improve the country's education.

Once again, war arrived. The chaos of conflict has disrupted the day-to-day life of schools and universities and prevented substantive change in the education system.

The lack of security has also made statistics difficult to obtain. UNICEF's last report on literacy in Iraq, in 2004, estimated that 74 per cent of people could read and write.

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