"The Iraqi Ministry of Education issued a statement that almost one fifth of the population is illiterate and established a link between violence and the remarkable increase in dropout numbers. Official figures of Iraqi illiteracy coincided with those issued by UN organizations and which estimated that one fifth of Iraqi adults, that is between the ages of 10 and 49, do not know how to read or write, the London-based newspaper al-Hayat reported Wednesday. The waves of violence that swept the country since the 2003 US-led invasion played a major role in increasing the illiteracy rate in Iraq, said Walid Hassan, Ministry of Education spokesman. 'The high level of literacy since the invasion is mainly because children drop out of schools in order to work and support their families after they lost everything in the war', he said in the statement... In the mid-1980s, Iraq was listed as an illiteracy-free country after the government launched an expansive campaign to eliminate illiteracy." (One fifth of Iraqis are illiterate: Iraqi official, alarabiya.net, 15/9/10)
"Immediately after the occupation of Iraq, the American authorities... imposed a new curriculum that removed any criticism of US policy in the Middle East, as well as any reference to either the 1991 war or to Israeli policy in the occupied territories. An estimated $US 62 billion was awarded to Creative Associates Int. and $US 1.8 billion to Bechtel by USAID in April 2003 to re-build Iraq's infrastructure, including schools and higher education institutions. However, these efforts have been plagued by shoddy construction, signaled by the frequent flooding of schools with sewage, by inadequate infrastructure, and the failure to replace outdated equipment and teaching materials. The rapidly deteriorating conditions and a complete failure to establish a functioning education system has produced a spiraling dropout rate of almost 50%." (Cultural Cleansing in Iraq: Why Museums Were Looted, Libraries Burned & Academics Murdered, ed. Baker, Ismael & Ismael, 2010, pp 31-32)
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'Immediately after the occupation of Iraq, the American authorities... imposed a new curriculum that removed any criticism of US policy in the Middle East, as well as any reference to either the 1991 war or to Israeli policy in the occupied territories'
Orwellian...I wonder if they have also blocked info on this incident:
'During the morning everybody that tried to cross the streets had
been fired upon. But during this strange silence people eventually
became curious. After three-quarters of an hour the first Baghdad citizens dared to come forward. At that moment the US solders shot two Sudanese guards, who were posted in front of a local
administrative building, on the other side of the Haifa Avenue.
- I was just 300 meters away when the guards where murdered. Then
they shot the building entrance to pieces, and their Arabic
translators in the tanks told people to run for grabs inside the
building. Rumors spread rapidly and the house was cleaned out.
Moments later tanks broke down the doors to the Justice Department,
residing in the neighboring building, and looting was carried on to there.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2914.htm
Brian
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