Focus on back to school efforts despite insecurity

Many school yards and playgrounds were empty in parts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, despite the new school term underway on 2 October. Parents refused to send their children to school in fear of attacks on educational institutions. "I'm very afraid of sending my sons to school because you never know when and where the insurgents are going to make their next attack and it looks like the security is not present," Suaad Rawi, mother of two, in Baghdad, told IRIN. The Ministry of Education has sent special security groups to schools to assist with protection, but teachers complain it is not enough. "We wish that our students can return back to their classrooms without being scared. What we can do everyday is just pray for their protection," Fadia Ibrahem, director of Mansoor Al-Tacicya Primary school, in the Mansoor district of Baghdad told IRIN. Ibrahem added that in the last few years before the recent war, more then 95 percent of students were attending the first day of school in the new term. But today less than 50 percent were present. For a school with nearly 1,500 students, less than 700 were present. Teachers also complained about threats received and were told to wear head scarves. The Minister for Education, Sami Abdul Mehdy Mudafar, told IRIN that they would secure primary schools with special assistance in a partnership with the Ministry of Interior. He also noted that areas around the schools would be supervised by the Iraqi police to guarantee a complete secure environment. Officials at the Ministry of Interior also affirmed their commitment in guaranteeing that Iraqi children could attend school in peace. Protection teams would be deployed at the entrance of all schools, together with checks on transport offered to children to ensure they reach home safely, officials said. But these promises don't seem to give staff much hope. Teachers add that children who were dropping out were going to fall behind in their education, hindering progress later on in life in terms of job opportunities. "I wish that one day I can look into my students' eyes and see happiness like I was seeing before. It is really very sad," Betul Mohammed, a maths teacher at Mansoor school, told IRIN. According to statistics from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in December 2003, Iraq had nearly 3.8 million children at primary schools and nearly one in four children aged between six and 12 did not attend school- 31.2 percent girls and 17.5 percent boys. However, there are no statistics on the current situation. Girls and women are facing a major learning gap, teachers say. There has been a sharp decline in adult female literacy and nearly twice as many girls as boys are out of school. Educational experts warn this number could increase with rising insecurity in the country. "We have been informed that many families are not going to send their girls in this year. It is terrible. Education in Iraq will be delayed because of terrorism," Adiba Rubaie, coordinator at the Kadyssia primary and secondary school for girls in the Adamyaa sector of Baghdad, told IRIN. But it is the stories from children that are the most telling. "I miss my friends at school. I miss the days in which I could run around the school not being afraid of a bomb," Hussam Ahmed, 9, told IRIN. "My mum says that she will not take me to school and if there is no security soon she will not let me return. I'm very sad, I deserve to be there," he maintained.