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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iraq
Index
University of Baghdad
Courtesy Mokhless Al-Hariri
The impact of government policies on the class structure and
stratification patterns can be imputed from available statistics
on education and training as well as employment and wage
structures. Owing to the historic emphasis on the expansion of
educational facilities, the leaders of the Baath Party and indeed
much of Iraq's urban middle class were able to move from rural or
urban lower-class origins to middle and even top positions in the
state apparatus, the public sector, and the society at large.
This social history is confirmed in the efforts of the
government to generalize opportunities for basic education
throughout the country. Between 1976 and 1986, the number of
primary-school students increased 30 percent; female students
increased 45 percent, from 35 to 44 percent of the total. The
number of primary-school teachers increased 40 percent over this
period. At the secondary level, the number of students increased
by 46 percent, and the number of female students increased by 55
percent, from 29 to 36 percent of the total. Baghdad, which had
about 29 percent of the population, had 26 percent of the primary
students, 27 percent of the female primary students, and 32
percent of the secondary students.
Education was provided by the government through a centrally
organized school system. In the early 1980s, the system included
a six-year primary (or elementary) level known as the first
level. The second level, also of six years, consisted of an
intermediate-secondary and an intermediate-preparatory, each of
three years. Graduates of these schools could enroll in a
vocational school, one of the teacher training schools or
institutes, or one of the various colleges, universities, or
technical institutes.
The number of students enrolled in primary and secondary
schools was highest in the central region and lowest in the
north, although the enrollment of the northern schools was only
slightly lower than that of the south. Before the war, the
government had made considerable gains in lessening the extreme
concentration of primary and secondary educational facilities in
the main cities, notably Baghdad. Vocational education, which had
been notoriously inadequate in Iraq, received considerable
official attention in the 1980s. The number of students in
technical fields has increased threefold since 1977, to over
120,090 in 1986.
The Baath regime also seemed to have made progress since the
late 1960s in reducing regional disparities, although they were
far from eliminated and no doubt were more severe than statistics
would suggest. Baghdad, for example, was the home of most
educational facilities above the secondary level, since it was
the site not only of Baghdad University, which in the academic
year 1983-84 (the most recent year for which statistics were
available in early 1988) had 34,555 students, but also of the
Foundation of Technical Institutes with 34,277 students,
Mustansiriya University with 11,686 students, and the University
of Technology with 7,384 students. The universities in Basra,
Mosul, and Irbil, taken together, enrolled 26 percent of all
students in higher education in the academic year 1983-84.
The number of students seeking to pursue higher education in
the 1980s increased dramatically. Accordingly, in the mid-1980s
the government made plans to expand Salah ad Din University in
Irbil in the north and to establish Ar Rashid University outside
Baghdad. The latter was not yet in existence in early 1988 but
both were designed ultimately to accommodate 50,000 students. In
addition, at the end of December 1987, the government announced
plans to create four more universities: one in Tikrit in the
central area, one each at Al Kufah and Al Qadisiyah in the south,
and one at Al Anbar in the west. Details of these universities
were not known.
With the outbreak of the war, the government faced a
difficult dilemma regarding education. Despite the shortage of
wartime manpower, the regime was unwilling to tap the pool of
available university students, arguing that these young people
were Iraq's hope for the future. As of early 1988, therefore, the
government routinely exempted students from military service
until graduation, a policy it has adhered to rigorously. This
policy, however, has likely caused resentment among the poorer
classes and those forced to serve multiple tours at the front
because of continuing manpower shortages.
Data as of May 1988
Education
University of Baghdad
Courtesy Mokhless Al-Hariri
The impact of government policies on the class structure and
stratification patterns can be imputed from available statistics
on education and training as well as employment and wage
structures. Owing to the historic emphasis on the expansion of
educational facilities, the leaders of the Baath Party and indeed
much of Iraq's urban middle class were able to move from rural or
urban lower-class origins to middle and even top positions in the
state apparatus, the public sector, and the society at large.
This social history is confirmed in the efforts of the
government to generalize opportunities for basic education
throughout the country. Between 1976 and 1986, the number of
primary-school students increased 30 percent; female students
increased 45 percent, from 35 to 44 percent of the total. The
number of primary-school teachers increased 40 percent over this
period. At the secondary level, the number of students increased
by 46 percent, and the number of female students increased by 55
percent, from 29 to 36 percent of the total. Baghdad, which had
about 29 percent of the population, had 26 percent of the primary
students, 27 percent of the female primary students, and 32
percent of the secondary students.
Education was provided by the government through a centrally
organized school system. In the early 1980s, the system included
a six-year primary (or elementary) level known as the first
level. The second level, also of six years, consisted of an
intermediate-secondary and an intermediate-preparatory, each of
three years. Graduates of these schools could enroll in a
vocational school, one of the teacher training schools or
institutes, or one of the various colleges, universities, or
technical institutes.
The number of students enrolled in primary and secondary
schools was highest in the central region and lowest in the
north, although the enrollment of the northern schools was only
slightly lower than that of the south. Before the war, the
government had made considerable gains in lessening the extreme
concentration of primary and secondary educational facilities in
the main cities, notably Baghdad. Vocational education, which had
been notoriously inadequate in Iraq, received considerable
official attention in the 1980s. The number of students in
technical fields has increased threefold since 1977, to over
120,090 in 1986.
The Baath regime also seemed to have made progress since the
late 1960s in reducing regional disparities, although they were
far from eliminated and no doubt were more severe than statistics
would suggest. Baghdad, for example, was the home of most
educational facilities above the secondary level, since it was
the site not only of Baghdad University, which in the academic
year 1983-84 (the most recent year for which statistics were
available in early 1988) had 34,555 students, but also of the
Foundation of Technical Institutes with 34,277 students,
Mustansiriya University with 11,686 students, and the University
of Technology with 7,384 students. The universities in Basra,
Mosul, and Irbil, taken together, enrolled 26 percent of all
students in higher education in the academic year 1983-84.
The number of students seeking to pursue higher education in
the 1980s increased dramatically. Accordingly, in the mid-1980s
the government made plans to expand Salah ad Din University in
Irbil in the north and to establish Ar Rashid University outside
Baghdad. The latter was not yet in existence in early 1988 but
both were designed ultimately to accommodate 50,000 students. In
addition, at the end of December 1987, the government announced
plans to create four more universities: one in Tikrit in the
central area, one each at Al Kufah and Al Qadisiyah in the south,
and one at Al Anbar in the west. Details of these universities
were not known.
With the outbreak of the war, the government faced a
difficult dilemma regarding education. Despite the shortage of
wartime manpower, the regime was unwilling to tap the pool of
available university students, arguing that these young people
were Iraq's hope for the future. As of early 1988, therefore, the
government routinely exempted students from military service
until graduation, a policy it has adhered to rigorously. This
policy, however, has likely caused resentment among the poorer
classes and those forced to serve multiple tours at the front
because of continuing manpower shortages.
Data as of May 1988
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