ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The new academic year began across the Kurdistan Region on Sunday, with authorities pledging to improve education standards.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani formally marked the start of the 2026-2027 academic year by ringing the school bell.
“We are working to improve the standard of education and will continue to develop the education sector,” Barzani said, stressing that his government would continue providing the resources needed for education.
Nearly 1.4 million students are attending 7,590 schools across Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok and Halabja provinces, according to figures compiled by Rudaw.
More than 150,000 students have enrolled in the first grade of primary school, while around 20,000 children have registered for kindergarten, Kurdistan Region Education Minister Alan Hama Saeed told Rudaw.
In Erbil province, nearly 500,000 students are starting the new academic year, including around 25,000 first graders, according to Luqman Saeed, director general of education in Erbil.
A total of 1,632 schools in the province are opening their doors to students.
In Sulaimani province, 410,383 students are beginning classes at 1,502 public and private schools, according to the province’s director general of education, Nezhad Abdullah.
“Thirty thousand students have been enrolled in the first grade of primary school for the first time,” Abdullah told Rudaw, adding that preparations for the new academic year had been completed.
In Duhok province, more than 426,000 students are returning to classrooms, including around 32,000 first graders, according to Sagvan Hassan, director general of education in the province.
Duhok has 1,521 public and private schools, Hassan said.
In Halabja province, around 28,000 students are beginning the academic year at 146 schools and kindergartens, according to Soran Omar, the province’s director general of education. Around 2,300 of them are first-grade primary school students.
