Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra)

The Egyptian Revolution in Pictures (part two)

July 04, 2013

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What next for Iraqi Higher Education?

Higher education in Iraq has suffered over the past 3 decades due to wars, sanctions, dictatorship and continuing conflict. Last year I undertook a Masters research project to investigate the past and Iraqi thoughts for the future. What I found was both shocking and enlightening. But, it reveals pathways for development.
History
Firstly, as a Brit, I hadn’t really grasped how our policies have undermined the formation of a safe, secure and equitable Iraqi state. The U.K ‘s role as a colonial ‘nation-builder’ has had ramifications for Iraq since 1920 to our more recent, catastrophic ‘humanitarian interventions’.
This has greatly affected Iraqi Higher Education. In the 1990s the UNSCR sanctions deprived Iraqi universities of materials, resources and international contact. Then, during the 2003 U.S. - U.K. invasion an estimated 84% of Iraq’s HE institutions were ‘burnt, looted or destroyed’ (UNU, 2005).
In the aftermath of occupation, hundreds of academics were assassinated or attac…

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