Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=5/22/2003

TYPE= Dateline

NUMBER=7-37486

TITLE= Education for Iraq

BYLINE=Ania Zalewski

TELEPHONE=619-1287

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Carol Castiel

CONTENT=

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

INTRO: In Iraq when the new school year begins in September, the United States hopes to have in place revisions to textbooks that have taught a generation of Iraqis to be ready to die for Saddam Hussein. And, as we hear in this edition of Dateline written by Ania Zalewski, the U-S civil administration also hopes to rebuild and renovate hundreds of schools. Here's Steve Ember.

BD: Iraq, which benefited from a lucrative oil industry, once boasted one of the Arab world's best education systems, a high literacy rate and a large professional middle class. But the first Gulf War, coupled with the U-N sanctions during the 1990's, dramatically affected the educational system. School enrollment declined from 75 percent in 1989 to 53 percent by the late 1990s. At the same time, the drop out rate among secondary school children increased to 65 percent. And almost half of all Iraqi girls over the age of 15 had no schooling at all.

Recent U-S and U-N field surveys describe Iraqi schools as being in shambles. Eight out of ten schools require renovating and many are overcrowded and lack sufficient teachers. And only two months ago the school year was interrupted by the U-S-led war to oust Saddam Hussein.

As part of the Bush administration's $1.7 billion dollar reconstruction plan for Iraq, the U.S. Agency for International Development or U-S-A-I-D, awarded a $62 million dollar contract to the Washington consulting firm "Creative Associates International." Their task is to revamp Iraq's educational system. //opt// The Iraqi schools contract is one of the eight initial awards that USAID is handing out for emergency reconstruction relief in Iraq. //end opt//

Robert Gordon is the director of operations for Creative Associates. He said the most urgent task in Iraq is to conduct a thorough inventory.

TAPE: CUT#1, GORDON,:23

"Very first step is to actually get into the country and do an assessment of the education system looking at approximately 2500 schools as a sample of all the schools; See what kind of needs they have, what kind of equipment, furniture, supplies and so on is actually necessary to get school underway. (But we also have to find out if the teachers in an area are ready to go back to work; whether students are prepared and are ready to go back to school, whether the parents are prepared to sent their children to school - and we believe that's all so but our first task is to visit these schools and do a complete and thorough assessment, but do it rapidly)."

NARR: The schools in Iraq re-opened on April 28th and children, teachers and parents were eager to resume their learning process. To many it was the clearest sign of hope for the future that many Iraqis have had in years. Even though some schools were untouched by the war, Robert Gordon explains several were converted into makeshift armories, while others were heavily looted.

TAPE: CUT#2, GORDON,:21

"One of the things we'll be looking for in our rapid assessment is to really understand what is the state of the infrastructure - whether the schools are in a good enough shape for the children to go back. Part of it is to look at the issues of electricity, and plumbing and just an overall safety of the schools."

NARR: Safety is a major concern for everyone involved. Security considerations scared off several prospective bidders for the Iraqi schools contract. But as Stephen Horblitt, Creative Associates' Director of External Affairs says, his organization has extensive experience in reviving educational systems of post-conflict regions.

TAPE: CUT#3, HARBLITT,:16

"Well, we've been around for 26 years dealing in post-conflict and transition situations. We've been in Salvador and Nicaragua; we're in Lebanon and Jordan right now. Any place that has been troubled - South Africa where they've emerged from apartheid. We have a long track record."

NARR. But freshly painted buildings and new supplies are just part of the equation. More importantly, a new educational curriculum and revised textbooks are needed for Iraq. The revisions are part of an effort to demilitarize the current curriculum that has touted Iraqi battlefield prowess and demonized the United States. From an early age children have been taught military commands and regulations. Phebe Marr [FEEBEE MARR] is a former National Defense University professor as well as the author of The Modern History of Iraq. She explains what kinds of books had been used to teach fifth or sixth graders.

TAPE: CUT#4, MARR,:17

"They emphasize extreme nationalism, almost a paranoia about Iraq being surrounded by enemies. They encourage kids to join paramilitary formations, to fight enemies. And of course these are identified -- first and foremost Iran, the Zionists, the United States."

NARR: The textbooks were crafted to inculcate at an early age extreme nationalism, pan-Arabism, and love for Saddam Hussein. More than half of Iraq's youth knows no other schooling. Phebe Marr says reformers must first target history, geography and civics textbooks.

TAPE: CUT#5, MARR,:10

"In fact they do little, very little, almost nothing to inculcate the kind of values that I think most people, especially Iraqis would like their children to be taught as citizens."

NARR: Already, Iraqi expatriates working with the State Department are discussing strategies for devising a whole new approach to education. Phebe Marr says Iraqi educators are ready for change.

TAPE: CUT#6, MARR,:20

"The textbooks need to be reworked, the curriculum needs to be looked at, and it's quite likely that the teachers themselves might welcome some sabbaticals, some outside courses and certainly they're going to welcome contact with the outside world, and new methods, and you know - new ideas. They're starved for it."

NARR: Stakes are high. A recent study by international security experts described the reconstruction of Iraq as a 'test case' that would go far in establishing the United States' enduring image in the Islamic world. Riffat Hassan is professor of Humanities and Religious Studies at the University of Louisville. She says that while introducing a new educational curriculum is paramount, it is equally important to take into account the cultural and social realities of predominantly Muslim Iraq.

TAPE: CUT#7, HASSAN, :13

"Iraq is a cradle of the Islamic civilization and I am afraid that in the name of democracy, to democratize the Iraqi society, an effort might be made to sort of de-Islamize it."

NARR: To avoid changes that might antagonize Iraqi society, Professor Hassan suggests reaching out to Iraqis themselves for expertise.

TAPE: CUT#8, HASSAN,:19

"The task of working out the details should be left to them. I think that Americans can help by providing support - they can get advisors or consultants or so on. But I do not think that the task of the curriculum reform for any country can be done from outside the country."

NARR: Some experts suggest that lessons in educational reform from post-war Afghanistan might be applied to Iraq. Bob Gordon explains.

TAPE: CUT#9, GORDON,:28

"We did something like that in Afghanistan where the Ministry of Education had over a 160 different titles or topics. They reproduced, edited the textbooks, they did the work of revising their curriculum and then what we did was take the ready material and have those books printed. But that's for Afghanistan and I'm not saying that's going to be the case for Iraq."

NARR: Maryfaith Mount-Court is the Education Division associate at Creative Associates International. She explains that most communities in post-conflict areas are very grateful for any help they can get. Her group was warmly welcomed in Afghanistan where the organization started its project last year.

TAPE: CUT#10, MOUNT-COURT,:31

"The people in Afghanistan are so overwhelmingly welcoming. You know in those situations you have to work with issues of security, but the people are just ready to return to some kind of normalcy, to get the schools going, to get their kids back in school, to get them some skills so that when they get a little older they will have a job. I mean those are the basics of life and they are happy and thankful that they have a chance to talk about these things."

NARR: But Iraq poses a special challenge. The process of installing an interim government has not yet been completed. And in the few weeks since U.S. forces seized control of Iraq's key cities, the explosion of grass-roots political movements, some with religious overtones, has complicated matters. In towns, cities and villages across the country, clerics and sheiks have proclaimed themselves mayors, councilmen, and directors of hospitals and schools. Nevertheless, Bob Gordon believes that reforming the educational system can be a vehicle through which the United States can earn the trust of the local population.

TAPE: CUT#11, GORDON,:22

"Well, we know that education is a part of a healing process - and we are definitely sure that as parents see that schools are beginning to open that the schools are safe, that the teachers that they are familiar with are back in place, that we'll gain the trust of the local communities."

NARR: Rebuilding power lines and bridges is the most urgent task in Iraq --a country battered by UN-imposed sanctions for over a decade and then scarred by the recent conflict. But, in the long run, if Iraq is to succeed as a prosperous and peaceful democracy, the United States must also act quickly to get Iraqi schools up and running. Iraqi children, parents and teachers seem eager for a new infrastructure and curriculum befitting the post-Saddam era. This edition of Dateline was written by Ania Zalewski. I'm Steve Ember in Washington.

MUSIC: Teach Your Children Well, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young