Making Iraqi schools welcoming again
Published: Dec 6, 2019 Reading time: 4 minutes
Azal is ten years old, and loves coming to school each morning. But the first time she tried school, at age six, she left after two years. “I felt like I didn’t know anything,” she explained. Discouraged, Azal may never have tried again, except for a campaign run by volunteers last winter to try and reach children just like her.
There were games in the school courtyard, and volunteers went door-to-door to talk with parents. “I got to join my friends in the school,” she told us, smiling. “And that made me very happy.” For the first time, school felt like a place she could be welcomed, and supported.
A different kind of approach
This is a big shift in approach for the schools in her area of Iraq, especially after being under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for three years. Many parents withdrew their children from school during this time, worried about what was being taught there; many others fled the area altogether.
Nashat’s family was one of those who fled. After his grandfather was killed by ISIL, his family made the thirty-kilometre journey to nearby Shirqat on foot, carrying almost nothing. His mother was pregnant at the time. After she gave birth, Nashat’s father was concerned that she couldn’t receive the medical attention she needed, so they travelled to Kirkuk, which had a hospital. Thirty-three members of Nashat’s extended family crowded into a single house there, fearful and afraid to return home.
It was difficult to come back after that experience, and Nashat’s father worried about the effect on his son. But now twelve years old, Nashat is back in school and says he particularly enjoys maths. He is learning about the planets in his science class this week, but English is his most difficult subject, he admits ruefully.
Making schools welcoming again
Posters and crafts
Over 700 boys and girls attend Nashat and Azal’s school, all of whom have lived through the recent conflict. “The war affected the psychological state of the children,” Nashat’s principal explains. He believes that the recreational activities and school materials have helped a large number of children return to school.
Yousef Ahmed, the principle of 362 students at Al Shak/Al Zab primary school, agrees. He says the new psychosocial and recreational activities “help students feel comfortable in the school.” He has seen more and more students begin attending these activities, as parents witness the positive effects they are having.
In addition to house visits, the back-to-school campaigns involve putting up posters in the market and public spaces and holding parent-teacher sessions. In Om Al Moumenin school, one of these sessions is underway, with both fathers and mothers listening carefully to the principal, a short and highly energetic woman in her 60s. Wafaa Mahmoud Khalil has been teaching for 32 years, and after the morning classes are over, she volunteers every afternoon to teach English and crafts activities to the children. It is her faith that gives her such motivation, she explains. “If I want to enter paradise, I must work hard and help people!”
Though the classrooms are tiny, and there are only three paid teachers for the 450 students who attend, the walls are bright with crafts materials and posters. The 13 volunteers here give sessions on everything from maths to origami. She feels the back-to-school campaign is essential, given the history of the area: many children left school under “Daesh” (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), and then felt too old to return. This is particularly true for girls, who are under increasing pressure to get married.
15,000 chances to stay in school
These back-to-school activities are part of a project run by People in Need, with support from UNICEF, to help over 15,000 children enrol and stay in school and be supported through a range of engaging activities. Out-of-school children are specifically targeted, to help overcome whatever obstacles are preventing them from coming to class.
One of these barriers is financial. As a widow living with her brother, Azal’s mother explains, money is very tight. It is difficult for most families to buy even the most basic items, like schoolclothes and stationery. That’s why the pencils and copybooks Azal received as part of the programme are so important.
Remedial classes, teaching supplies, and training for teachers and facilitators are also included in the project, along with the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations to build links between parents and the school, and help parents invest in their children’s education.
Azal’s mother now hopes her daughter will be a teacher someday. Why a teacher? “My older sister is a doctor,” Azal explains with twinkle in her eye. Clearly, Azal wants to carve her own path and do something different. Now at the start of her second full year at school, she has taken the first step.
Since 2015, People in Need has been providing educational assistance in Iraq. Our work in the Haweja area is funded by UNICEF. Find out more about our work in Iraq here.
