Education is the foundation of any nation’s progress. Years of ISIS attacks have had a negative impact on Iraq in all aspects, higher education is one of them. Iraqi universities were hit hard by the violence and many classrooms, laboratories and equipment were severely damaged. However, a brighter future awaits higher education in Iraq. 

According to UN estimates, at least 350 schools in Iraq have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 100 instructors and 60 students have been killed, maimed, threatened, or abducted. At least 70 documented attacks on higher education facilities, students, and workers were also reported.

According to Al Fanar Media, between 2014 and 2017, many buildings on ten Iraqi university campuses were destroyed by bombs and mortar shells. Shimal Hall at Northern Technical University in Mosul was not exempt from these attacks.

Since 2020, SPARK and the EU Regional Trust Fund, in response to the Syrian crisis, the “Madad” fund, have worked together with the Northern Technical University in Mosul in a variety of ways, including by providing 101 students with scholarships, language support, building the capacity of the university’s Career Development Centre and enhancing the skills of university staff. 

However, providing a safe, clean and hospitable university environment, as well as equipment, and other necessary facilities, to meet the needs of staff and students is also critical to successful higher education, in addition to enhancing the capacity of the Career Development Centres for them to continue providing students and graduates with high quality services such as: career guidance orientations sessions, job skilling training, etc. The refurbishment of the university’s Shimal Hall, which was destroyed by IS militants, has provided young learners with a positive, physical symbol of rebuilding and moving on from the horrors of IS through education.

“The Shimal Hall was once a computer lab,” explains Dr. Amer Farhan Sheet, Director of the Continuing Education Centre at Northern Technical University. “But due to the conflict and military operations during the liberation and the purge of ISIS, we lost this vital hall.” 

“When the hall was shown to the SPARK team, they were ready and delighted to bring life back to it. The hall has been rehabilitated, repaired and fully furnished. It’s now a distinct hall in our university,” says Prof. Dr. Alyaa Abbas Al-Attar, President of Northern Technical University. 

“When the war started, many students quit studying and stopped going to school altogether,” says Saif Saad, an IT student. “When a student sees a hall that’s clean and organised, unlike before where it was all wrecked, they get more motivated to study, learn and further develop themselves.”

Iraq’s higher education system has the potential to play a critical role in bridging the country’s growing sectarianism and building long-term peace and stability. Therefore, SPARK’s higher education programme, funded by the European Union, will prioritise multiple pathways to learning. It also enables the most vulnerable youth, including Syrian refugees, women, internally displaced and youth from the local community, to reach their full potential and acquire technical skills needed for the job market.