1000 schools promised
Kirkuk opens three new schools under Iraq-China agreement
KIRKUK — Kirkuk governorate has inaugurated three new schools out of 44 designated for the province, as part of an Iraqi-Chinese agreement to construct 1000 schools across Iraq.
The allocation to provinces is based on population density, double-shift schooling, and the presence of prefabricated and mudbrick schools.
In 2021, former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi inked a deal with two Chinese state-owned firms to build the schools.
Haidar Majid, spokesperson for the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, told 964media, “The project is the first of its kind in Iraq and is progressing according to specified timelines. Here in Kirkuk, three model schools out of 44 have been completed, as per the population density geographically determined.”
“The project comes as part of the government’s efforts to end the phenomenon of triple and double shifts and eliminate mud and prefabricated schools. The schools have been completed according to international standards in a manner that suits the Iraqi environment. However, the biggest obstacle faced by the executing company was the process of land allocation” he added.
Engineer Nazim Nasser, director of the School Buildings Department at the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, said, “The completion rate of the project nationwide has reached fifty percent. We have completed three schools in Kirkuk and will open four more by the end of the current month, with the hope of completing the remaining number by the end of September.”
The first completed school is located in the Wahid Haziran area and consists of 18 classrooms. The number of classrooms for each school has been determined according to the size of the allocated land.
