The return of Iraqi schoolgirls to their schools after years under an oppressive rule

The return of Iraqi schoolgirls to their schools after years under an oppressive rule

Local From 2017-04-17 at 20:48 (Baghdad time)

Follow Mawazine News
Iraqi student Manar Mahmoud is keen to resume her studies after years under the rule of the Daash organization in Mosul, ignoring the sound of artillery fire in the vicinity.
The 13-year-old Manar returned to her old school in the eastern part of the city, which Iraqi forces regained control of in January.
Fighting is still raging at close range. On the other side of the Tigris River, government forces, aircraft and artillery are attacking the last bastions of the Old City in western Mosul.
With the arrival of the first new textbooks last week, teachers were quick to resume their studies. Girls have years to make up for, and most have stopped school after terrorists swept through Mosul in June 2014.
"We want to learn, we do not want to be ignorant," said Manar, who stood with a group of her classmates before school.
Terrorists forced teachers to continue to work but most parents prevented their children from going to school for fear of brainwashing and were influenced by the interpretation of the Islamic preacher.
They were teaching us about jihad and how to fight, "said Manar, who wore school uniforms and a white veil.
"Our families prevented us from attending school."
The militants do not favor the education of girls. They quickly surrendered and closed the school but did not demolish it as they did in other government buildings.
They searched the library and the teachers' rooms and stripped them of all that was precious and got rid of the books they rejected. A room full of Arabic language books survived. Terrorists tried to open it with bullets but failed.
In another room, there are new books for articles such as English and biology, which are banned from organizing and advocating teaching.
• Differentiated capacities
The biggest challenge is the disparity in the level of knowledge of the 150 girls enrolled in school after having missed almost three years of education.
"We have to put girls of different ages and degrees of science in one class, which is causing many problems," said the school principal.
"We are asking for more guidance from the Ministry of Education, but we have not yet been visited and no one is responsible," she said.
After she left with a front line to fight at close range, the director and some teachers asked not to be named because they did not know what the future holds for them.
All teachers work free of charge because the government has not yet resumed paying salaries.
"There is no drinking water or electricity in the school," said a teacher named Umm Mohammed, standing in front of her crowded classroom.
"God willing, we will try to help children and students forget the suffering they have experienced."


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]