Kim Gamel; 22/9/08
Boys and girls in navy blue and white uniforms giggled and held hands Sunday as they filed into dusty and often rundown classrooms for the first day of school in Iraq. Parents and their children were hopeful that recent security gains would allow them to focus on studies after years of violence that has forced education to the sidelines. “I’m happy that classes are starting today and pray to God that everything will be fine this year,” said 10-year-old Haider Mustafa, wearing a backpack as his dad dropped him off at a school in Baghdad’s mainly Shiite neighbourhood of Karradah. “I hope that we have security this year that will let us study normally.” Not everybody was ready to start school. Many parents decided to wait to send their children until after the fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in early October.
