(C) KRG MINISTER OF EDUCATION ON CHALLENGES, RELATIONS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000144

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, NCT, IRMO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PINS PNAT PREF PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: (C) KRG MINISTER OF EDUCATION ON CHALLENGES, RELATIONS WITH
BAGHDAD

REF: KIRKUK 00000143

KIRKUK 00000144 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Jim Bigus, PRT Leader, POL, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY: Minister of Education (MOE)
for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),Dilshad Abdul
Rahman Osman Younis, said on August 8 that his ministry had
limited relations with the MOE in Baghdad, which was divided
into separate Sunni and Shia departments, and that the KRG
mostly had relations with the Sunni department when it did have
contact. Younis said these poor relations and a limited KRG
budget were severely hampering education reforms in the
Kurdistan region. Continued reliance on the government in KRG
areas for education and employment was not being matched by the
current budget, training, or employment opportunities. Schools
were separated by gender, which often meant females received no
education in rural areas where the budget did not provide for
schools. Younis claimed reforms were needed to end continued
KDP and PUK influence of the education systems in their
respective areas. He claimed a comparative religion program was
going to emphasize the non-violent nature of Islam to counter
the legacy of Saddam's regime. END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.



(C) "VERY THIN" RELATIONS WITH BAGHDAD, WITH SUNNIS MOSTLY
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2. (C) KRG Ministry of Education (MOE) head, Dilshad Abdul
Rahman Osman Younis, told IPAO on August 8 that the advantages
of having one office, with one budget and one governing body,
since the merger of the two KRG Education Ministries, was being
offset by a "very thin" relationship with the MOE in Baghdad.
Younis claimed the KRG recently extended an invitation to the
MOE in Baghdad to visit the KRG, but had received no reply. He
added there currently was a plan for a KRG MOE delegation to
visit Baghdad but that this was delayed "due to the security
situation." He said international donors, such as UNESCO,
contributed millions of dollars and offered training but dealt
directly with Baghdad's MOE, which did not inform the KRG of
these programs. He claimed the education system dated back to
the 1920s and desperately needed updating and reforms, in
particular privatization of education and training staff for
this new system.

(C) KRG BUDGET LIMITS; RELIANCE ON KRG FOR EDUCATION, JOBS
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Younis said reliance on the Kurdistan government for
education and employment continued, and claimed that recently
"the presidents of all the colleges" in the Kurdistan region
appealed to the KRG to supply this year's graduates with
government jobs. At the same time, he claimed, the KRG devoted
budget priorities to more pressing reconstruction issues, such
as electricity, water, and fuel. Younis said a 200 million USD
construction plan to build urgently needed new school spaces was
shelved currently because the KRG had not provided funding. He
claimed schools in cities needed funding more than in rural
areas, since they had space shortages that forced students to
rotate through school in three separate groups of three hour
shifts each day, rather than the full six hours.

(C) "NOT EVERYONE CAN WORK IN A HOSPITAL"
--------------


4. (C) Younis said scientific programs were getting the most
attention in order to improve employment skills. At the same
time, he added, "not everyone can work in a hospital," so this
education was not practical for the average secondary level
student, since the KRG economy could not absorb enough graduates
with these skill levels. He said there was an average of 50 to
60 students in each class, of which about 40 percent were
female. He claimed this percentage decreased with advancement
from elementary and intermediate levels (which covered grades
one through six and were mandatory) to the secondary level, at
which point education was no longer mandatory. The schools were
separated according to gender, which Younis claimed often meant
there were no schools for females, especially in rural areas
were there was no budget allowed for these. He added "tons of
teachers" from southern areas would prefer to work in KRG areas
schools but the education system could not provide employment
for them, in many cases because they did not speak Kurdish. He
added this was also a problem with the many refugee communities
in the KRG areas, who often spoke neither Kurdish nor Arabic,
which further complicated the educational goals of his ministry.

(C) REFORMS TO END POLITICAL PARTY INFLUENCE IN EDUCATION

KIRKUK 00000144 002.2 OF 002


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5. (C) Younis claimed the KRG Education Ministry had clear
instruction that neither of the two main Kurdish parties could
interfere with or be involved in the education process, but that
they were nevertheless. As an example, he claimed 100 percent
of the managers in the schools were political appointees and
party members. He said there was a study scheduled for the end
of the year to check if managers were truly qualified and that
they would be fired if they were not, to be replaced with a
hiring system based on merit and credentials.

(C) ROLE OF RELIGION IN EDUCATION
--------------


6. (C) The KRG MOE was trying to found a comparative religion
program that would teach that Islam was only one of many
religions and emphasize its non-violent nature, Younis claimed.
This was intended to counter the many years that "the Saddam
regime used Islam, Quranic texts, and statements of the Prophet
Muhammad to incite violence." Small numbers of people opposed
this program, he claimed, "but had no influence."



(C) BIOGRAPHIC NOTES:
--------------


7. (C) Dilshad Abdul Rahman Osman Younis: Appointed as Minister
for Education to the unified KRG cabinet on May 7, 2006; born in
Sulaymaniyah in 1959; wrote a dissertation in the field of
Agriculture and was a university lecturer; former a head of an
oil industry project.

(U) COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Mohammed
Shakaly, in a separate meeting claimed that Islamist groups had
enough mosques and should concentrate on building schools.
(Reftel. Kirkuk 00000143.) This policy, combined with the KRG
Education Ministry's limited budget and concentration on
privatizing the education sector could be a formula for foreign
and local Islamic organizations to exploit.
JBIGUS