Thursday, January 18, 2007

The schools, boss! The schools!


Well, there's the utter bullshit, neo-con, feel-good propaganda:

Iraq's Education System Is Being Rehabilitated. More than 30 percent of Iraq's schools have been rehabilitated, more than 36,000 teachers have been trained, and approximately 8.7 million revised math and science textbooks and 3 million school supply kits have been provided to students nationwide.

Then there's the ugly reality:

Even before bombings at a university Tuesday killed at least 65 people, Iraq's higher-education system was on the verge of collapse, officials said.

Faced with the lingering war and unrelenting sectarian violence, students by the thousands have been leaving campuses to return home or enroll at universities in other countries. In the past year alone, university enrollments have fallen by more than half at some schools, officials said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi professors continue to be targeted for assassination and intimidation. According to Iraq's higher-education ministry, insurgent and militia groups have murdered at least 280 academics since 2003, and an additional 3,250 have fled the country.

But look on the bright side -- so much more opportunity for tenure.

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