ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region is producing an “illiterate generation” who has missed more than half their school year because of coronavirus restrictions, a member of the parliament’s education committee said on Monday, a week before classes finish.
“Grades one to three, they are the most critical years of school, because it’s the beginning of learning their mother tongue, it’s the beginning of learning all the Kurdish letters,” Muslim Abdullah, vice-chair of the education, higher education, and scientific research committee of the Kurdistan Region parliament, told Rudaw Radio.
“We have students in grade three, they haven’t learned the Kurdish language, they don’t know the letters well, they can’t read or write. This means we have an illiterate generation,” he said.
Most students were in class for just two and a half months this year, “while they have to go to school 170 to 200 days, which is six and a half months,” said Abdullah. “A lot of their time has been wasted.”
In an effort to avoid overcrowding, class time was reduced, with students split into two groups – each going to school three days a week. And for weeks at a time, schools were closed government orders to stop spread of the coronavirus.
In March, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union voiced dissatisfaction over the interrupted school year and the government’s decision to extend the annual spring holiday, keeping schools closed as numbers of new COVID-19 cases increased.
“We will pay the price in the future for the level of education of the students that we are cutting off from school,” Atta Ahmed, deputy head of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union, told Rudaw Radio in March.
The United Nations children’s organization (UNICEF) in February also criticized the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) decision to reopen restaurants and other facets of public life, while keeping schools closed.
Abdullah said his committee advocated keeping schools open with health measures in place. “We were always in contact with the ministry so that students can go back to school with protective and health measures,” he said.
Students in Duhok’s public schools said they have fallen behind, only covering half the required curriculum.
