Iraq

Prior to the Gulf War, Iraq had achieved near universal primary education. However, years of crisis, armed conflict, out-of-date policies, economic challenges and a series of sanctions have led to a deterioration in access, equity and quality of education.

More girls than boys are being pushed out of school due to school closures from COVID-19; limited remote learning access; a lack of teaching and learning materials; and other factors. Early childhood education enrolment is alarmingly low. By the sixth grade, girls represent less than half of the students in the education system. About one in four internally displaced children are able to access a formal education, while just 2 out of 10 returnees are back in the classroom. Schools were targeted during the years of war, and only 38 per cent of school infrastructure remains undamaged.

In March 2020, efforts to control the pandemic led to the closure of schools across the country. The Government offered technology-based solutions for learners, but many remote models were not accessible to children living in displacement camps, leaving millions of students without access to education.

Where education services are available, school resources and qualified teachers are overwhelmed by overcrowded classrooms and responding to the unique needs of learners that are struggling to overcome adversity, stress and other psychological factors after years of living in active war zones.

The MYRP builds on ECW’s COVID-19 First Emergency Response (FER) and supports hundreds of schools and learning centres in delivering formal and non-formal education across the centre of Iraq and Kurdistan regions. Grantees reach internally displaced persons in camps and non-camp settings, returnees, Syrian refugees and host communities. The programme also prioritizes education for girls and children with disabilities.

The focus is on rebuilding schools; promoting access to continuous, inclusive and gender-responsive education services; restoring a sense of safety, protection, and social and emotional well-being; and training and recruiting qualified teachers. It also includes strengthening the capacity of both community-based and institutional school governance systems, supporting the government and other local partners in scaling-up the impacts of interventions towards reaching the targets of SDG 4 on universal, inclusive and equitable quality education.