Successful and prosperous societies are the most powerful and dominant communities in this world, and the community to be strong and well-developed, it must be based on several elements most notably science, without it the human societies can not be evolved and flourished and reached to what it is at the present time , noting that our religion is always urging us on the learning and teach others, and the first thing that was ordered by God Almighty to his Messenger is a learning in saying: “Read,” Reading means here learning, especially learning the religion of Islam, it can not be for any Muslim to worship God Almighty without being aware of the provisions of Islamic religion , God Almighty has preferred the educated Muslim (the learner) over the uneducated Muslim in the Koran as saying: “Say: Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know .”
The strength of society lies in its educated conscious members , and strength increases, the less ignorance ratio, noting that the educated society has consciousness and culture that enable it to solve all problems no matter how difficult they are , and education is necessary for both the boy and the girl in everyday life, it helps them to take care of children in all age phases positively and this is reflected on their lives and their families and their community in the future effectively, and that education provides the learner with decent job that brings him money from which he can meet the necessary needs away from destitution and reduction of his dignity . Educated person able to instill noble ideas, values and principles in the hearts of his friends and family and community, thereby increasing their awareness and understanding of the tasks assigned to them, and increase their ability to make right decisions in many things of life; they will have a wide look for life and the future, and the skills of an educated person are the best investment to his family and his community, who receives respect and appreciation of them.
Education is working on the eradication of illiteracy rate in the community or reduce it, and gives human being information in various fields and expands the extent of his thought and give him the ability to innovate, invention, imagination, and creativity in many things, which increases self-confidence and protect him from fear and confrontation as the science is weapon and power. Education fraternizes among members of the same society, and eliminates the existing religious and ethnic differences among members of society; science alone brings together individuals of different religions on the same school to receive the same scientific lessons, which is the same that combines black and white on the same seat, so the science and education strengthens social relations between different individuals and upgrade their civilization , and makes them able to face all challenges, unlike the distinction which shakes the system of society and undermine its strength.
But in Iraq, pupils, students and officials, educators in Iraq agreed on the difficult conditions experienced by the education sector in the country, especially the lack of security services, rampant corruption and deepening the sectarian mind in Iraq after 2003, reflected negatively on the progress of lessons, examinations and results, and the results of the 3rd intermediate Grade “the first term ” in Iraq, which was announced several days ago , is only a clear evidence as the success rate reached 27.35%, while last year’s success rate for the same period of study 47.16%. The proportion of normal success must not be less than 50% but the opposite has happened, which means that there is a sharp decline in the results of this certificate, which is a real introduction to the certificate of general secondary in Iraq.
It is noticeable that the success rate in the results of the certificate of 3rd intermediate Grade of this year declined in all provinces except the second Rusafa in Baghdad province, which reached the success rate of this year, 38.86%, while last year reached 35.57 percent, and the province of Dahuk, which reached the success rate in this year 23.74%, while in the past year it amounted to 20.98%, and the province of Arbil, the success rate this year 29.71, while in the last year amounted to 29.11%. The following table shows the decline in success rates in the provinces this year than last year as an example:
| Governorate | The percentage of success in this year | Percentage of success last year |
| Wasit | 53.68 | 56.91 |
| Basra | 36.74 | 47.30 |
| The first Karkh “Baghdad” | 38.28 | 48.82 |
| Salahaddin | 24.40 | 27.74 |
| Kirkuk | 24.21 | 47.33 |
There is no doubt that the political situation such as the political division in the Iraqi political group and in economic aspect as the rampant of phenomenon of corruption, and in social aspect such as the emergence of the phenomenon of sectarianism and in security the spread of the phenomenon of armed militias ,and in military such as the emergence of the phenomenon Daesh noting all that reflected negatively and scary on the reality of the educational system in Iraq today while Iraq was in the eighties of the past century , according to reports UNESCO , the best one in education system in the Middle East, where the proportion of spending on education in Iraq reached 6% of the total national production, and 20% of the government budget. But the march of education in Iraq declined after 1991, due to wars and the international embargo imposed on Iraq, but after 2003, Iraq has seen a setback in its education system, while the Iraqis thought that the good is coming because of the political change that took place in Iraq after the April in 2003. But the hopes quickly have gone up in smoke and were disappointing in a rule that was not democratic in every sense of the word, but a rule depends on the sectarian and national quotas and in an environment of non-constructive conflict which led to the bitter struggle in the political scene that has cast a shadow on the nature of society which come closer to the civil war and the violence, displacement, destruction and loss of this security and this has an impact largely on many of the joints of the state, services, and the nature of the Iraqi human being , including education. That education in post-2003 saw a significant failure in its march just like the rest of the services noting that the Ministry of Education has subject to sectarian quotas and education involved in its struggle and education rather than to be a motive and an indication of the progress of the country , it has contributed to the delay of it and schools became a suffocative environment sometimes for students and teaching in the backward curricula no longer seeking to serve the stage for giving up their slogans and curricula devoted sectarianism to a national curriculum that respects pluralism and respect for human rights.
In order to promote the educational aspect in Iraq, the government must take the following actions: –
1.Ruling out the Ministry of Education from sectarian quotas and the appointment of ministers of technocrats who have high academic qualifications and known of patriotism and integrity giving them wide powers for the purpose of the reform of education process.
- Curriculum change in a way serving the democratic orientation and reinforcing the principle of respect for others and respect for human rights.
- Ruling out schools from sectarian conflicts and respect for campus
4-Take care of school buildings and increase its numbers to be built in a scientific manner and within the international standards and the reduction of the phenomenon of corruption in this area.
5-Issue laws or activate existing ones in order to eliminate the scourge of illiteracy and work with the instructions of compulsory education and anti-leak case for pupils.
- Health and physical care for pupils and attention to be paid to the cases of excellence, creativity and geniuses of them.
- The upgrading of government education and create an educational relationship between the student and the teacher and family and reduce the phenomenon of private schools and tutoring.
Post Daesh, Iraq waits for many internal political, economic and social challenges, and perhaps including the challenge of education, it is difficult to promote it, and Iraq as a state and a society could see the outbreak of future conflicts at any moment. Such as the Arab Kurds conflict around Kirkuk and the plain of Nineveh, Sinjar and the disputed areas between the region and the Iraqi government, the Sunni and Shiite conflict on the integrity of the political process and fairness of representation and balance of political system and its different institutions. The conflict between the Shiite Shiite between Moqtada al-Sadr and Nouri al-Maliki and the Kurdish conflict between the various components, and the conflict with administrative corruption and inflation of the bureaucratic system and the lack of its efficiency and the issues of economic growth, reconstruction, and so many of the challenges inside. All this reflected-and will be reflected negatively on education in Iraq and will lead to the decline of it.
The Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies