BAGHDAD,
July 7 (IslamOnline.net) - Iraqi education ministry has abolished the
national education curriculum, any mention of the deposed president
Saddam Hussein and the scholarships granted to those favored by Saddam;
yet, religion curriculum has remained unchanged.
Supervisor
of the ministry of education under occupation Dorty Mazaika has
underlined that following the collapse of Saddam’s regime, the U.S.
administration took over and approved a number of laws and procedures,
known as "educational reforms."
The
U.S. administration abolished all privileges granted to some families
that supported the former regime, as the Iraqi leader had ordered to
grant additional marks to any student, whose parents had obtained a
medal of bravery or merits.
“The
U.N. Security Council has approved Friday, June 27, 2003, to fund the
program of revising and rewriting school curricula and amalgamating such
process into oil-for-food program," Mazaika told IslamOnline.net.
Funding
Speaking
to IOL, head of revision ad hoc committee Dr. Fouad Hussein said,
"due to the exploitation of education curricula by Saddam’s
regime, the ministry has decided in collaboration with coalition
authority and the UNSC to revise such curricula to be in conformity with
today’s education worldwide.”
“A
sum of $97 million has been allocated by the UNSC to be at the disposal
of the concerned committee, formed by Mrs. Mazaika under my chairmanship
and the membership of 37 professors for revising all curricula. We will
finish with this process before the end of this week," Hussein
said.
Hussein
denied rumors that the new curricula had been prepared in the U.S. and
that a committee of Iraqis living in the U.S. was responsible for
drawing up such curricula.
An
extensive program for reconstruction of 6300 primary schools is expected
to start in August in coordination between the ministry of education and
the UNICEF.
"It
has been a big challenge to fulfill such a mammoth task within such a
record time. We have also managed to provide excellent atmosphere for
examinations despite all surrounding circumstances," Mohammed
El-kanany, a member of the revising committee, said.
'Audio-Visual
Repentance'
A
well-informed source with the ministry of education, who refused to be
named, told IOL that teachers who were supporting the former Iraqi
regime could return to their jobs, provided that they "make
audio-video pledge not to support Baath Party any longer" and
"declare their repentance."
Some
teachers, however, dismissed the demand as "blackmail and a
derogatory means to make a living."
Following
the Baathist revolution in July 1968, the education sector in Iraq
followed a new path, as Baathists made education charge-free and paid
due attention to cadres. Following the first Gulf War between Iraq and
Iran, curricula gradually turned to "glorify" the any thing
made by Saddam Hussein.
