Perspective: Schools out as Baghdad bloodshed kills education

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Ahmed waits outside his school's gates on a chilly midweek morning, holding his textbooks by his side.

But as the majority of pupils and teachers fail to arrive, the 18-year-old, who is in his final year at high school, has to put off learning for yet another day.

"It's canceled again today," he said, visibly frustrated. "Only 15 out of 200 students in my year turned up."

Three years ago, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, teachers and students talked excitedly about excising the compulsory pages on the dictator from their textbooks and freeing academia from interference from the ruling Baath party.

Now, sectarian venom has struck deep at the heart of Iraq's education system as militants from both Sunni and Shi'ite groups attack schools, universities and personnel.

The prevailing anarchy has also poisoned society, bringing casual violence into classrooms in a way not seen before.

Read the rest at the Washington Post