Ahmed Mukhtar Jaf School is located in the center of Halabja which in the past used to be called Halabja University, due to its strong scientific reputation back when the city lacked higher education. Following recent renovations, the school now has 27 classrooms, a seminar hall, a laboratory, and an extensive garden.
Halabja Girls High School, with a kindergarten opposite, was built by Aso Mohammed Bamoki, a wealthy individual from the city. A little further down the same street, another school has been renovated in a similar way, with the characteristic red brick becoming a symbol of school building revitalization.
The Halabja Group of Companies, owned by Bamoki, has decided to continue its mission.
“Both Halabja city and the wider Kurdistan Region require educational development and more attention must be paid to it,” noted Yassin Rasul, a spokesperson for the Halabja Group of Companies, to Rudaw’s Sazgar Salah on Tuesday.
He further highlighted that “the absence of high-quality, modern school buildings hinders students and teachers from realizing their full potential, including a lack of stadiums, gardens, laboratories, suitable auditoriums and many other essential facilities such as cool and hot air conditioners."
"Constructing these schools is fundamental to addressing this issue," he noted.
A religious cleric emphasizes that, in addition to mosque renovations, constructing schools is also a form of charity.
“These charitable projects are like charity, and each will be rewarded according to his good intentions,” Abduldaim Hawrami said, praising the construction of schools by donors. "Our country and homeland is going through a tough time, full of crises."
Hawrami hailed philanthropists for their contributions to building or renovating educational centers.
"There are many projects out there. Everyone could do their part by helping build a school. At this time, many of the schools are being built by philanthropists. Even in building universities, philanthropists have extended a helping hand," the local cleric of Halabja said.
In Halabja, a shortage of schools remains, leading to the existence of three-shift schools, some of which require renovation.
"We need two 18-classroom buildings and two kindergartens in the [Halabja] district center," stated Soran Mustafa, director general of education in Halabja.
Mustafa said, "We also need an 18-classroom school in Sirwan and two 18-classroom schools in Khurmal. Currently, we have three three-shift schools operating as temporary solutions."
The new school year in the Kurdistan Region began officially on Wednesday. The KRG says the 2023-2024 year will see a record number of 158,000 grade one pupils, announced Alan Hama Saeed, the Kurdish government's education minister.
Of 1.9 million pupils and high school students who returned to classrooms across the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, 24,635 of them are from Halabja, Hama Saeed detailed.
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