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HAMAM AL-ALLI CAMP, Iraq – Schools in Iraq usually open on October 1, but they have been shut since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic – leaving children at the Hamam al-Alil camp in the Nineveh plains in educational limbo.
Plans by Iraqi authorities to move to online learning would be almost impossible to implement in the camp because of the cost of internet and the needed electronic tools, camp residents and officials say.
"It would be difficult if they switched to online education," camp resident Mohammed Dhahir said. "It would be difficult because we cannot afford to provide them with mobile phones and internet. We cannot afford to pay for these things. Instead of providing them with internet service, we need to provide them with basic needs and cover other expenses. The second thing is that our children don't know how to work with the internet."
The principal of the camp's school says there are no teachers at present.
"The online education plan won't be successful in these circumstances and with our capacity," said Ibrahim Mohammed, school principal of Hamam al-Alil camp 2. "It is impossible to implement the plan here. Because, first of all the capability of the students is weak, and the second thing is the internet – you know how slow it is in Iraq. So, it is because of the slow internet, the lack of help for the students and all other aspects."
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a humanitarian organisation, is providing unofficial classes and education for the children in the camp.
Their staff members are distributing a homework syllabus, so that children can study with their parents at home.
"Amongst children that have been displaced in the recent past, that are still living in IDP camps, or that have recently returned and are still coming to terms with that history of displacement, schools have provided a protective environment. They've provided a place where the children have been able to regain a sense of community, to regain a sense of normality, to just be children again," said Marine Olivesi, media and advocacy coordinator for NRC Iraq.
Hamam al-Alil camp houses displaced people who fled the Islamic State (ISIS) advance, then control of Mosul and other parts of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017. The camp had a capacity of 30,000 people in 2017.
Plans by Iraqi authorities to move to online learning would be almost impossible to implement in the camp because of the cost of internet and the needed electronic tools, camp residents and officials say.
"It would be difficult if they switched to online education," camp resident Mohammed Dhahir said. "It would be difficult because we cannot afford to provide them with mobile phones and internet. We cannot afford to pay for these things. Instead of providing them with internet service, we need to provide them with basic needs and cover other expenses. The second thing is that our children don't know how to work with the internet."
The principal of the camp's school says there are no teachers at present.
"The online education plan won't be successful in these circumstances and with our capacity," said Ibrahim Mohammed, school principal of Hamam al-Alil camp 2. "It is impossible to implement the plan here. Because, first of all the capability of the students is weak, and the second thing is the internet – you know how slow it is in Iraq. So, it is because of the slow internet, the lack of help for the students and all other aspects."
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a humanitarian organisation, is providing unofficial classes and education for the children in the camp.
Their staff members are distributing a homework syllabus, so that children can study with their parents at home.
"Amongst children that have been displaced in the recent past, that are still living in IDP camps, or that have recently returned and are still coming to terms with that history of displacement, schools have provided a protective environment. They've provided a place where the children have been able to regain a sense of community, to regain a sense of normality, to just be children again," said Marine Olivesi, media and advocacy coordinator for NRC Iraq.
Hamam al-Alil camp houses displaced people who fled the Islamic State (ISIS) advance, then control of Mosul and other parts of northern Iraq between 2014 and 2017. The camp had a capacity of 30,000 people in 2017.
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