Two Chinese companies to build 1.000 schools in Iraq

Iraq has signed agreements with two Chinese companies to build a thousand schools in the capital Baghdad and the rest of the country, a government official explaining that the project is expected to be completed in two years.

In total, the country needs to build 8.000 schools "to fill the gap in the education sector," said Hassan Mejaham, an official of the Ministry of Construction and Housing, quoted by the agency on Sunday. official press INA.

In the presence of Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi, the agreements were signed Thursday with two Chinese companies: Power China, which will build 679 schools, and Sinotech, which will erect 321.

A country extremely rich in hydrocarbons, Iraq suffers from a failing infrastructure, after decades of war and endemic corruption which plagues the entire state apparatus.

It will take two years to finish construction of the 1.000 schools, although the first establishments should be delivered a year after the start of the work launched "very soon", said Mr. Mejaham.

He added that the Iraqi slate will be paid for with oil.

A second phase provides for the construction of 3.000 schools, before a final phase to allow the erection of 4.000 schools.

"Decades of conflict and underinvestment in Iraq have destroyed what was once the best education system in the entire region," Unicef said on its website, adding that one in two schools in the country have suffered from damage and must be rehabilitated.

In the country of 40 million inhabitants, "nearly 3,2 million Iraqi children of school age are out of school," said the UN agency.

“Learning levels in Iraq are among the lowest in the Middle East and North Africa region and are likely to decline even further, due to the impact of the pandemic on education services, including including the prolonged closure of schools, "warned the World Bank in October.

The international organization advocated investments and reforms in the sector.