In 2003, only one in six Iraqi children had textbooks, teachers were unpaid and ill-trained, school facilities were in poor condition, supplies and equipment shortages were endemic, and the quality of basic and higher education was in serious decline. Combined with systematic looting and the destruction of public property, most schools lacked plumbing, wiring, lighting, desks, windows, and doors.
USAID is working to increase enrollment, improve the quality of primary and secondary education, ensure that classrooms have sufficient supplies, facilitate community involvement, train teachers, implement accelerated learning programs, and establish partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi colleges and universities.
Powerline today has this despicable news:
Iraq today seized booby-trapped dolls from a car trunk accusing terrorists of targeting children:
The dolls were found in a car, each one containing a grenade or other explosive, said an army statement. The government said that two men driving the car had been arrested in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib.
“This is the same type of doll as that handed out on several occasions by US soldiers to children,” said government spokesman Leith Kubba.
It was not immediately clear when the find was made or the suspects arrested.
Iraqi officials also found a large cache of weapons today in southern Iraq near the Iranian border.
