International support needed to restore universities

Modern universities in Iraq were established in the second half of the last century, beginning with the University of Baghdad in 1957, uniting several colleges in the process.

During the 1960s five more universities were established: the University of Technology and Al-Mustansirya University in Baghdad as well as universities in Basrah, Mosul and Sulaymaniah.

The further development of higher education in Iraq was characterised by the establishment of technical institutions, reflecting the considerable demand for qualified technicians created by the flourishing oil industry.

By the mid-20th century, Iraqi universities were the best in the region and the country had achieved exceptional progress in enrolment at all levels of education.

While in pre-conflict days Iraqi scientists were publishing widely in international and regional journals, unfortunately very few articles were published during the time of conflict.

Higher education today

Two ministries are responsible for the education system in Iraq. The Ministry of Education is in charge of pre-school, primary and secondary education. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is responsible for all post-secondary education, including technical education and research centres.

During the conflicts of the past 40 years, the state of the Iraqi educational system has declined remarkably.

The government of Iraq pursued a policy of establishing a university in each governorate, responding to demands for equity and the growing demand for higher education after conflict, because the government considered education an important pillar in the effort to rebuild Iraqi society.

Iraq’s higher education sector has the potential to play an important role in overcoming the country’s widening sectarian divides and fostering long-term peace and stability.

As a leading actor within Iraq’s civil society, higher education could offer an institutional venue for resolving the country’s political, social and economic problems while promoting respect for human rights and democratic principles on campus and in wider society.

However, we need international support.

Higher education in Iraq under attack

During the past four decades, because of political conflict, thousands of Iraqi academics and medical professionals, engineers and others have been killed or imprisoned or have escaped from Iraq.

This has demolished the county’s infrastructure and the level of education has dropped to its lowest point, which led to a further deterioration of the already poor physical state of education institutions.

The three wars of Iraq and the internal conflict caused more than four million people to be killed, injured or to migrate, plus trillions of dollars in damage and the demolition of infrastructure. The 2003 war against the Baathist regime by the International Alliances wreaked more than US$3 trillion in damage plus the loss of thousands of Iraqi and alliance lives.

After 2003, direct violence or indirect political violence against the education sector – such as bombings of universities – led to the deaths of many staff and students. This also had a negative impact on the education system.

We in Iraq have suffered too much from the bad policies of the previous Iraqi regime. All Iraqis are suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of long-term conflicts. Higher education was also severely traumatised by the loss of academics and facilities.

We are looking for active cooperation with international development organisations that are dealing with the post-war conflict, to share their experiences and support our movement to rehabilitate higher education via:


    The construction and development of higher education organisations.
    Human resource development and rehabilitation.
    Higher education curriculum redesign.
    The delivery of human rights and democracy to students.
    The promotion of economic and social development.
    Post-traumatic stress management at all levels.
    The establishment of links and international cooperation.
    Drawing on investors, international partners and donors.
    Empowering civil society.
    Promoting private education for capacity building.
    Protecting children going to school.


We do hope that international organisations that have experience with post-conflict rehabilitation will support our higher education system so that it can comply once again with international standards.