SUB-ZERO EDUCATION - THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BASRAH

UNCLAS BASRAH 000037 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO IZ SUBJECT: SUB-ZERO EDUCATION - THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BASRAH ¶1. Summary: On March 16, the Deputy Regional Coordinator (DRC) met with Mr. Qahtani Al-Musawi, the Director General of Education for Basrah. He provided a frank, but bleak assessment of the current public education system in Basrah. Unless there is a strong infusion of money into the system in the near future for infrastructure projects, teacher salaries and classroom supplies, Basrah stands to "graduate" a whole generation with only rudimentary reading, writing and math skills. End Summary. Too Many Students and No Teachers -------------- ¶2. Mr. Al-Musawi, Director General of Education for the past two years, stated there were 750 buildings in Basrah province that were being used by 1400 "schools." He defined "school" as one unit of either kindergarten/elementary or junior high/high school. He added that children were required to begin school at age 6 and graduate by age 21. Al-Musawi further commented that the lack of space meant an average of 50 students per class and three different shifts, 0800-1100, 1100-1400 and 1400-1700. As a result, each student receives only three hours of classroom instruction per day. ¶3. The situation is even bleaker for the teachers. Al-Musawi stated that there were only approximately 35,000 teachers for the entire province. He added that the Ministry of Education had to "recall" a number of unqualified teachers from past years to fill teaching positions. Al-Musawi indicated that the situation of the teachers has been steadily worsening since ¶1991. He said that during the period after the first Gulf War, teachers were only paid USD 2 per week and as a result, they had to supplement their income with two or three other jobs. According to Al-Musawi, after the fall of Saddam, the situation is now at a point "below zero." Even though the salaries of the teachers are currently about USD 100 per month, most of the teachers do not have education degrees and their "experience" dates back to the time when they were working two or three jobs. No Resources, Little Options -------------- ¶4. There is little option besides the public education system. According to Al-Musawi, there are only five private schools in the entire province. In addition, he stated there are no schools strictly for Shia or Sunni children and they all go to class together. However, in a separate meeting with Sheik Khalid Al-Mullah, a prominent Sunni cleric in Basrah, he said that he sent his children to a school strictly for Sunnis. Also, in another meeting with the Archbishop of Basrah, Gabriel Kassab, he stated that his Catholic Church operated a school for Christian children. ¶5. Al-Musawi mentioned that during the CPA period teachers paid with CPA funds and donations of school supplies were received from NGOs. However, he stated that when the payment of teacher salaries was transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Education, the situation started to deteriorate. The teachers were paid less and began to look for other work. Also, donations from NGOs started drying up about a year ago and now all the schools were suffering from the lack of basic materials, i.e., books, paper and pencils. Al-Musawi opined that almost all the students in Basrah were computer illiterate and ignorant about the Internet. Comment -------------- ¶6. Al-Musawi made a wish list that included more school buildings and more qualified teachers. In addition, he stated a need for training in school administration and expressed a desire to travel to other countries to learn how other public school systems operate. Perhaps his most interesting comment was how students are given mandatory English language instruction as part of the school curriculum. In addition, Al-Musawi invited the DRC to a nearby public school so that the students can see and listen to an American speak. Although we cannot meet all the needs of the Basrah public education system, we will try to increase public outreach to the schools so the kids can at least practice their English skills. GROSS