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A history of education in Iraq

تاريخ التعليم في العراق

The country of Iraq has a recorded history going back 8,000 years. The history and system of education, however, was not officially recorded or analyzed until after the creation of the official state in 1919. This of course has made it difficult to obtain any information regarding Iraqi education prior to the 1900s. But new systems, although young, are now in place to track, analyze, and assist in the development of the country’s current educational system. (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2010) The following is a timeline of major events.

Education History

Education in Iraq began to suffer in the 1980s; however, the economic sanctions of the following decade caused a more rapid decay of the system, as did diversion of funds from education to military spending and other priorities:

Education Spending

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The following charts represent the gross enrollment of Iraqi students at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels over the past decade.

WORKS CITED

▪ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2010). Literacy Initiative for Empowerment in Iraq. Retrieved from http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century. Accessed November 25, 2013.

▪ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2010). UNESCO Office for Iraq | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/iraq-office/. Accessed November 25, 2013.

▪ The World Bank (2013). School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) | Data | Graph. Retrieved from UNESCO Institute for Statistics website: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR/countries/IQ-XQ-XT?display=graph. Accessed November 22, 2013.