VZCZCXRO4485
PP RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHBC #0037 0790553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200553Z MAR 06
FM REO BASRAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0277
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBC/REO BASRAH 0295

UNCLAS BASRAH 000037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO IZ
SUBJECT: SUB-ZERO EDUCATION - THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN BASRAH 
 
¶1.      Summary:  On March 16, the Deputy Regional Coordinator 
(DRC) met with Mr. Qahtani Al-Musawi, the Director General of 
Education for Basrah.  He provided a frank, but bleak assessment 
of the current public education system in Basrah.  Unless there 
is a strong infusion of money into the system in the near future 
for infrastructure projects, teacher salaries and classroom 
supplies, Basrah stands to "graduate" a whole generation with 
only rudimentary reading, writing and math skills.  End Summary. 
 
 Too Many Students and No Teachers 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.      Mr. Al-Musawi, Director General of Education for the past 
two years, stated there were 750 buildings in Basrah province 
that were being used by 1400 "schools."  He defined "school" as 
one unit of either kindergarten/elementary or junior high/high 
school.  He added that children were required to begin school at 
age 6 and graduate by age 21.  Al-Musawi further commented that 
the lack of space meant an average of 50 students per class and 
three different shifts, 0800-1100, 1100-1400 and 1400-1700.  As 
a result, each student receives only three hours of classroom 
instruction per day. 
 
¶3.  The situation is even bleaker for the teachers.  Al-Musawi 
stated that there were only approximately 35,000 teachers for 
the entire province.  He added that the Ministry of Education 
had to "recall" a number of unqualified teachers from past years 
to fill teaching positions.  Al-Musawi indicated that the 
situation of the teachers has been steadily worsening since 
¶1991.  He said that during the period after the first Gulf War, 
teachers were only paid USD 2 per week and as a result, they had 
to supplement their income with two or three other jobs. 
According to Al-Musawi, after the fall of Saddam, the situation 
is now at a point "below zero."  Even though the salaries of the 
teachers are currently about USD 100 per month, most of the 
teachers do not have education degrees and their "experience" 
dates back to the time when they were working two or three jobs. 
 
No Resources, Little Options 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  There is little option besides the public education system. 
According to Al-Musawi, there are only five private schools in 
the entire province.  In addition, he stated there are no 
schools strictly for Shia or Sunni children and they all go to 
class together.  However, in a separate meeting with Sheik 
Khalid Al-Mullah, a prominent Sunni cleric in Basrah, he said 
that he sent his children to a school strictly for Sunnis. 
Also, in another meeting with the Archbishop of Basrah, Gabriel 
Kassab, he stated that his Catholic Church operated a school for 
Christian children. 
 
¶5.  Al-Musawi mentioned that during the CPA period teachers paid 
with CPA funds and donations of school supplies were received 
from NGOs.  However, he stated that when the payment of teacher 
salaries was transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Education, the 
situation started to deteriorate.  The teachers were paid less 
and began to look for other work.  Also, donations from NGOs 
started drying up about a year ago and now all the schools were 
suffering from the lack of basic materials, i.e., books, paper 
and pencils.  Al-Musawi opined that almost all the students in 
Basrah were computer illiterate and ignorant about the Internet. 
 
Comment 
----------- 
 
¶6.      Al-Musawi made a wish list that included more school 
buildings and more qualified teachers.  In addition, he stated a 
need for training in school administration and expressed a 
desire to travel to other countries to learn how other public 
school systems operate.  Perhaps his most interesting comment 
was how students are given mandatory English language 
instruction as part of the school curriculum.  In addition, 
Al-Musawi invited the DRC to a nearby public school so that the 
students can see and listen to an American speak.  Although we 
cannot meet all the needs of the Basrah public education system, 
we will try to increase public outreach to the schools so the 
kids can at least practice their English skills. 
 
GROSS