Iraq school attendance rates drop drastically

Thousands of students have been forced to stay at home due to escalating violence across the country. Attendance rates for the new school year, which started on 20 September, are a record low, according to the Ministry of Education.

Recently released statistics from the Ministry indicate that only 30 percent of Iraq's 3.5 million students are currently attending classes. This compares to approximately 75 percent of students attending classes the previous year, according to UK-based NGO Save the Children.

"Last year I had nearly 80 students in my class. Today, there are less than 25. Families are keeping their children safe at home, waiting to see how violence will spread, particularly after many schools were targeted countrywide," said Hiba Addel Lattef, a teacher and coordinator at Mansour Primary School in the capital, Baghdad.

"Education [levels are] deteriorating as a result of violence," Lattef added.

According to the Ministry of Education, 2006 is the worst year for school attendance since US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The immediate post-war level of attendance in 2003 was almost 100 percent.

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