Children return to school in Iraq

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7021064.stm

Version 0 of 1.

By Karen O'Brien BBC News

Many children have been displaced and some classrooms are crowdedSchools across Iraq have reopened for the new academic term at the end of the summer holidays, after a decision by the education ministry not to wait until the end of Ramadan to resume classes.

As millions of Iraqi schoolchildren prepared for their first day back after the long summer break, many parents would have anticipated this day with some apprehension.

Sending your children to school in Iraq, especially in the capital, Baghdad, can mean sending them to an uncertain fate: bombings, rocket attacks, kidnappings, and random shootings have all claimed child victims.

Curfews and security cordons cause stress and delays.

Psychological impact

And then there is the emotional toll of living with daily violence, risk and fear, and the often devastating effect on children's mental health and well-being.

The violence in Iraq has led to large-scale displacement and this inevitably affects children's education.

Their schooling is disrupted and when they do settle in a safer area, they may find they are in overcrowded classrooms along with other traumatised children whose families have also fled the sectarian violence.

The Iraqi Red Crescent estimates that across Iraq, almost a million children moved home between March last year and August this year. Much of that movement was in and around Baghdad.

The education ministry says it is working hard to improve facilities - 250 schools have been built in time for the new term.

The future of Iraq will be in the hands of today's students and many parents hope that the violence that is scarring their schooldays will by then be a distant memory.