The Basra Gas Company (BGC) has handed over a fully-furnished AlRaha school to the Directorate of Education in Basrah. BGC built the school as a gift to the community in order to replace an old school built years ago near the gas pipelines. In addition, BGC provided a temporary school until the permanent school was completed. AlRaha School provides around 350 boys and girls from the AlZubair area with a good educational environment, a computer lab with 5 years of internet access and a multi-purpose playground.
A protracted conflict and multiple overlapping humanitarian crises have had a devastating impact on the education system in Iraq. Nearly 3.5 million school-aged children attend school irregularly, or not at all. The government of Iraq is working to get children back to school. Schools helps keep children safe and protected from risks, including gender-based violence, recruitment into armed groups, child labour and early marriage.
An estimated one in five schools in Iraq are out of use. Many schools that are in session conduct two or three shifts per day to accommodate extra students who’ve been displaced from other areas and those whose regular schools were damaged or destroyed by conflict. With generous contributions from donor partners, from the private sector has mobilized tremendous resources to support the Government of Iraq to address education needs.