The impacts on teachers, students and schools in post-Da’esh Iraq

• In Event: Evidence based teacher training model for catalyzing inclusion and stabilizing communities post-conflict

Proposal

The ongoing conflict within Iraq has had profound humanitarian consequences, widening sectarian and ethnic divides in already tattered communities. This presentation highlights the context and state of education within Iraq based on research through ongoing Needs Assessments over the course of the ECI program with IREX and NGO partner Al Ghad.

Prior to the Iraq wars, Iraq had a strong education system. The percentage of educated people able to read and write in the seventies and eighties was high with the government nearly eliminating illiteracy. However, the education system has suffered with the deterioration of security. Although areas under Da’esh control in 2017 partially transformed into post-conflict areas, the humanitarian situation remains. The Needs Assessments show millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees slowly returned to rebuild in communities, however the process is complicated, with suspicions of Da’esh sympathizers among those who stayed. In Ninewa and Anbar governorates, a mixed population of current IDPs, IDP returnees, and those who stayed are challenged to cooperate across religious and ethnic backgrounds and overcome war trauma. IDP returnees seek support for their children to recover from trauma and develop skills and abilities needed to contribute positively to a peaceful and non-sectarian, and prosperous future for Iraq.

While aid organizations have supported rebuilding schools, there are still obstacles that go beyond providing access. In 2014, education in Da’esh-controlled areas witnessed a manipulation of the Iraqi curricula to incite children to violence directly targeting children’s thought and imagination, leading to militaristic behaviour in schools. Parents transferred children to other schools to protect them from extremism, or kept them at home, creating a gap in formal education for thousands. In addition, educators continue using traditional methods of teaching, often increasing or adding to trauma experienced by students. Educators use lecture style teaching that is not inclusion. Shouting, corporal physical punishment and expulsion are used for misbehaviour. Educators lack knowledge of the impact of trauma on learning and tools for identifying students with trauma as well as strategies for providing emotional support that enable students to remain in school. War-related violence has a negative affect on children and youth, putting their learning and development at risk. Students have behaviour problems from trauma, including anxiety, depression, fear, anger, and an inability to concentrate. Also, educators may be unaware of the school’s ability to make tensions worse by discrimination against minority groups. The Iraqi government has publicly acknowledged addressing sectarian and ethnic divides within education is key in preventing further violence.

The author will provide an overview of data collected from the Needs Assessments and key areas education programs should support in order to increase inclusion and peaceful co-existence in areas post conflict. The author will provide context for the diverse demographic makeup of the educators brought together through ECI who consisted of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, ages, geographic areas, experience, and gender across Anbar and Ninewa and the importance this had for modelling inclusion within the ECI program.

Author

• Mohammad Jassim, ALGHAD League for Woman and Child Care