[Vision2020] Iraqi Higher Ed in Shambles

[Art Deco]

Mo writes:

"Christians may not resort to physical violence to settle differences 
between groups in our current era, ..."

Perhaps you've not heard of Northern Ireland, or the breakup of Yugoslavia?

W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melissa Hendrickson" <hend5953 at uidaho.edu>
To: "Dick Sherwin" <rvrcowboy at clearwire.net>
Cc: "Vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:34 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Iraqi Higher Ed in Shambles


> How many centuries did Christians kill each other over "stupid"
> sectarian violence?  Christians may not resort to physical violence to
> settle differences between groups in our current era, but there are
> still plenty of us who will not sit at the same table as others, who
> belittle and berate our brothers and sisters in Christ because we do
> not agree with their theology.  If we as Christians cannot come to one
> table and put our differences aside who are we to judge another
> religion?  Especially when our past is just as bloody, if not more,
> than our Muslim cousins?
>
> I am just as guilty of talking poorly of other Christians, I have been
> hurt deeply by those who profess to be Christians, yet hurl slanderous
> and hate filled words and deeds in my direction.  We are all driven by
> our bias and prejudice, we have the choice to continue to live
> according to our bias or look at ourselves and work against that bias
> and move towards conforming to Christ.
>
> --Mo
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dick Sherwin <rvrcowboy at clearwire.net>
> Date: Thursday, October 5, 2006 0:14 am
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Iraqi Higher Ed in Shambles
> To: Vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>, nickgier at adelphia.net
>
>> This is too bad.  It is sad the Muslim world chooses to turn in on
>> itselfand eat its own.  No wonder nothing of value to mankind
>> comes from such a
>> situation.  The Muslim world has been killing each other for
>> centuries over
>> sectarian stupidity.  I doubt anythng will ever change that.  Of
>> course, the
>> far left will put the blame on Bush, even though this carnage has
>> been going
>> on long before he was even born.
>>
>> Dick S
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: <nickgier at adelphia.net>
>> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 11:11 PM
>> Subject: [Vision2020] Iraqi Higher Ed in Shambles
>>
>>
>> > raq's universities and schools near collapse as teachers and
>> pupils flee
>> >
>> > Peter Beaumont in Baghdad
>> > Thursday October 5, 2006
>> > The Guardian
>> >
>> > Iraq's school and university system is in danger of collapse in
>> largeareas of the country as pupils and teachers take flight in
>> the face of
>> threats of violence.
>> >
>> > Professors and parents have told the Guardian they no longer
>> feel safe to
>> attend their educational institutions. In some schools and
>> colleges, up to
>> half the staff have fled abroad, resigned or applied to go on
>> prolongedvacation, and class sizes have also dropped by up to half
>> in the areas that
>> are the worst affected.
>> >
>> > Professionals in higher education, particularly those teaching the
>> sciences and in health, have been targeted for assassination.
>> Universitiesfrom Basra in the south to Kirkuk and Mosul in the
>> north have been
>> infiltrated by militia organisations, while the same militias from
>> Islamicorganisations regularly intimidate female students at the
>> school and
>> university gates for failing to wear the hijab.
>> >
>> > Women teachers have been ordered by their ministry to adopt
>> Islamic codes
>> of clothing and behaviour.
>> >
>> > "The militias from all sides are in the universities. Classes
>> are not
>> happening because of the chaos, and colleagues are fleeing if they
>> can,"said Professor Saad Jawad, a lecturer in political science at
>> BaghdadUniversity.
>> >
>> > "The situation is becoming completely unbearable. I decided to
>> stay where
>> many other professors have left. But I think it will reach the
>> point where I
>> will have to decide.
>> >
>> > "A large number have simply left the country, while others have
>> applied to
>> go on prolonged sick leave. We are using MA and PhD students to
>> fill in the
>> gaps."
>> >
>> > Wadh Nadhmi, who also teaches politics in Baghdad, said: "What
>> has been
>> happening with the murders of professors involved in the sciences
>> is that a
>> lot of those involved in medicine, biology, maths have fled. The
>> people who
>> have got the money are sending their children abroad to study. A
>> lot - my
>> daughter is one of them - are deciding to finish their higher
>> education in
>> Egypt."
>> >
>> > It is not only in Baghdad that the universities are beginning to
>> sufferfrom the security situation. In Mosul, too, professors
>> complain of a system
>> now approaching utter disarray.
>> >
>> > Mohammed U, a 60-year-old science professor who asked for his
>> full name
>> not to be disclosed, spoke to the Guardian after returning from
>> the funeral
>> of a colleague, a law professor and head of the law faculty, who
>> died in an
>> explosion.
>> >
>> > "Education here is a complete shambles. Professors are leaving,
>> and the
>> situation - the closed roads and bridges - means that both
>> students and
>> teachers find it difficult to get in for classes. In some
>> departments in my
>> institute attendance is down to a third. In others we have
>> instances of no
>> students turning up at all.
>> >
>> > "Students are really struggling. To get them through at all, we
>> have had
>> to lower academic levels. We have to go easy on them. The whole
>> system is
>> becoming rapidly degraded."
>> >
>> > The situation is reflected in many of Iraq's schools. "Education
>> in my
>> area is collapsing," said a teacher from a high school in Amariya,
>> who quit
>> four months ago. "Children can't get to school because of road
>> blocks. The
>> parents of others have simply withdrawn them from the school
>> because of the
>> fear of kidnapping.
>> >
>> > "If children have to travel by car, we are much less likely to
>> see them.
>> When I left, we had 50% attendance. We see parents when they come
>> in to ask
>> for the children to have a 'vacation', and they admit they are too
>> scared to
>> let them come.
>> >
>> > "Between September 8 and 28 two members of the staff were
>> murdered. The
>> staff was supposed to be 42. Now there are only 20."
>> >
>> > It is hardest of all on young Iraqis, most of whom are desperate
>> for an
>> education. Ala Mohammed, a high school student from Zafaraniya,
>> had hoped to
>> go to university this year. But her college is in Adhamiya, a
>> neighbourhoodnotorious for violence, so she has been forced to ask
>> for a deferral. "The
>> journey is too long and too unsafe. I don't know whether I will be
>> going to
>> college or stay jailed at home."
>> >
>> > =======================================================
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