Textbook Quality Improvement Program: Support to basic Education in Iraq -

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Textbook Quality Improvement Program: Support to basic Education in Iraq

UNESCO and the United States Agency of International Development, from May 2003 to March 2005 published over 20 million new textbooks in Iraq.

Background
Prior to 1990, Iraq had one of the best education systems in the Arab world. Education was free, enrolment and literacy rates were high. However, the 1990-91 Gulf War and subsequent economic sanctions led to the rapid deterioration of education. By 2003, according to UNESCO survey of education in the Arab States, Iraq’s literacy rate was amongst the lowest in the region.

UNESCO/ USAID cooperation
UNESCO has been dedicated to improving education in Iraq for many years. Before the recent war broke out, more than 120 UNESCO staff was working in the country.

In 2003 with a ten- million-dollar assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UNESCO, in its capacity as the coordinator of the Education for All (EFA), undertook a textbook provision program. As reaffirmed by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, “Education is a fundamental right” and “UNESCO works to ensure that all learners in Iraq have the opportunity to realise this right”. UNESCO is “pleased to be working with both the Iraqis and the US to contribute to the strengthening of Iraq’s education system.”

Aim of the program
The program aimed at providing school textbooks, improving student/book ratio and developing local printing capacity.

Accomplishments
Major achievements of this program were as follows:

Review of forty-eight mathematics and science textbooks in Arabic;

Assistance to Iraqi printers on how to tender competitive bids for contracts with international organisations;

Assistance to build up the production capacity of local printers;

Lowering the pupil/book ratio from 1/4 to roughly about 1/1.5;

Printing and publishing of 8.75 million mathematics and science school textbooks, of which 3/4 were printed by local printers;

Design of a monitoring process to ensure that production and distribution were better organized;

On-the-job training for Ministry of Education staff;

Digitalizing the monitoring and quality control of the production process;

Computerization of all supplies departments in Baghdad;

Training for warehouse staff in basic computer skills and management;

Installation of Macintosh desktop publishing equipment donated by UNESCO headquarters, including relevant training for ministry of education;

Study tours for Ministry of Education staff to Egypt, Morocco and Thailand to learn from their successful implementation of education reforms.

Related Links:
USAID website for education assistance in Iraq

Updated:02-12-2008 12:44 pm