NOT BETTER THAN CAVES AND RUINS: A SNAPSHOT OF EDUCATION IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000096

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR NCT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SCUL SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: NOT BETTER THAN CAVES AND RUINS: A SNAPSHOT OF EDUCATION IN
BABIL PROVINCE, IRAQ


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1. (U) This is a Babil PRT Cable


2. (SBU) SUMMARY. During a May 25 meeting, the Education
Director General (DG, a provincial representative from the
national ministry) for Babil, Dr. Hummadi Al-Awadi, told
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) staff that the current
state of education in the province is deplorable and that
substantial U.S. assistance is urgently required. The DG
complained that while the United States continues to provide
small gifts of school supplies and other "minor trinkets,"
Coalition Forces must engage in large scale construction
projects in order to substantially improve the quality of
education in the province. PRT staff stressed to the DG that
the team and the Regional Embassy Office (REO) have been
actively involved in supporting educational endeavors throughout
the province, and will continue to do so, but that such ornate
projects, including the DG's suggestion to build two great
halls, are impractical. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) PRT staff met with the DG of Education for the purpose
of improving cooperation between Coalition Forces and local
school districts and to coordinate U.S. military visits to
individual schools. The DG stated at the opening of the meeting
that while he was highly appreciative of the U.S. military's
willingness to provide basic school supplies, including pencils
and notebooks, he expressed disappointment that the PRT and
Coalition Forces have failed to engage in large scale projects
including the construction of school buildings. (COMMENT:
Coalition efforts have focused in the past on the reconstruction
of damaged schools and not the construction of new schools.
USAID has refurbished 165 schools in the province at a cost of
$6.1 million. School supplies provided by Coalition Forces in
Babil have been at the initiative of USAID and individual
military units and not organized by the PRT or other Coalition
Forces. END COMMENT).


4. (SBU) The DG further explicated that Coalition partners
previously implemented small scale donation campaigns, similar
to current U.S. efforts, with little success. One of the DG's
aides who attended the meeting took a harsher tone and related
that such previous projects were a considerable "waste of time
and money". The DG added a public diplomacy aspect to the
conversation, contending that terrorists are exploiting the
widely perceived notion that Coalition Forces only provide
symbolic assistance. Mimicking a terrorist, the DG mocked,
"What? Those Americans provide you with only paper and pencils
[and not with substantial reconstruction programs]?" These
types of charges, he continued, "will convince the common
person" that the United States is unenthusiastic about helping
the people of Babil.


5. (SBU) The DG further declared that all levels of education,
including primary, secondary and tertiary, in Babil are facing
an impending crisis due to a lack of space, supplies and faculty
training. One aide added that the educational facilities in
Babil are "not better than caves and ruins" and that he hoped
Coalition Forces would help to redress this problem, as
"brothers in humanity." At the conclusion of the meeting, a
second aide stated that Babil requires 400 new schools (there
are approximately 300 students per school),comprehensive
teacher training and technical expertise to create new syllabi.
The aide also requested that the PRT Deputy Leader ask the U.S.
military to provide security for students and teachers during
upcoming examinations in June.


6. (SBU) REO and PRT staff had previously met with officials
from Babil University. The administrators of the university
echoed a similar theme, arguing that the United States has a
moral obligation to rebuild the educational infrastructure of
the institute. Without direct U.S. aid, these administrators
declared, they would remain unable to develop their university.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: Babil, in relationship to the rest of
South-Central Iraq, possesses a well educated population, marked
with higher than average literacy rates and a relatively
dedicated educational staff. While the state of education in
Babil may not be in such dire straits as portrayed by the DG of
Education, there is no doubt that there is much room for
improvement. Unfortunately, it is the experience of PRT staff
that most public officials, including educators, make
unrealistic demands that Coalition Forces are simply unable to
meet. Moreover, when officials resort to the tactic of casting
a wide net to see what they can get, it makes it difficult for
the PRT to accurately judge what the real needs are. For
example, the DG of Education failed to mention that the Ministry
of Education is currently building 48 new schools this year at a
cost of $7 million. Nor did he mention that Coalition Forces
have earmarked $22 million for Babil University from Iraqi

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development funds during the previous fiscal year. END COMMENT.
MEURS