Diyala students to start school year in 56 new Chinese-funded schools

DIYALA — Dozens of newly built schools will open in Diyala next week under Iraq’s Chinese loan program, local education officials said Wednesday.

Faris Amer, head of the planning department at Diyala’s Education Directorate, told 964media that 56 schools have been allocated to the governorate under the project. “All of which have been fully completed and are now in the furnishing stage,” he said. Amer noted the program has helped reduce double shifts and overcrowding, and replaced four prefabricated schools. He said the effort was directly supervised by Cabinet Secretary General Hamid al-Ghazi and the Secretariat’s Department of National Projects and School Buildings.

Ammar Mouloud, media director at the directorate, said Diyala is part of “Project No. 1,” which includes 176 schools in total. “Twenty schools have been completed, work is ongoing in 66, and 90 schools have been referred to Diyala governorate projects, and we hope to see them completed soon,” he told 964media. He added the schools will “ease pressure, overcrowding, and double shifts across the governorate’s schools, providing a suitable educational environment for our dear students.”

In December 2021, Iraq signed agreements with two Chinese companies to build 1,000 schools nationwide as part of an oil-for-infrastructure deal. Power China is responsible for 679 schools, while Sinotech will construct 321.

Last year, as more than 12 million students across Iraq began the 2024–2025 academic year, the Education Ministry announced the opening of 600 new schools, part of efforts to ease longstanding infrastructure shortages.