Iraq since the invasion: how has higher education fared?

Iraqi higher education has endured some of its “darkest times” in the 20 years since the US-led invasion of the country, but many in the sector are still cautiously hopeful for its future.

In March 2003, Iraq was internationally isolated as a result of an economic blockade, and higher education was significantly affected, so the invasion marked a pivotal moment for the sector.

“When the invasion happened, we were optimistic about Iraq and optimistic about higher education in Iraq,” Ali Al-Sherbaz, a lecturer at Baghdad’s University of Technology at the time, told Times Higher Education.

“We were influenced by the media and the situation. We could see that with Saddam [Hussein] it was a closed country – it’s hard to travel, it’s hard to make any connections with other universities, it all had to go through the one channel, which was Saddam and his Ba’ath party.”

Dr Al-Sherbaz hoped that a democratic Iraq would offer increased support for higher education, more scholarships and better opportunities for international partnerships.

This optimism lasted until the onset of civil war in 2006 when life became “just about surviving”, and Dr Al-Sherbaz sold his home and moved to the UK.

Ahmad B. Al-Khalil, who works at the University of Duhok, said the Iraq war had a “substantial effect” on higher education – damaging the country’s infrastructure and impacting resources and financing.

“This meant that neither the students nor the academic staff had enough books, research materials or basic supplies.

“Therefore, many academics left Iraq as a result of the security difficulties that followed the invasion.”

He said that 2006-08 was one of the most worrying periods for the future of the sector, when sectarian violence in the country was at its worst.

“Many academics and intellectuals were killed, and many students could not pursue their studies,” he said.

“As a result, a lot of educational institutions closed their doors.”

The other was 2014-17 when ISIS imposed their own curriculum in the three governorates they controlled, meaning students fell three years behind their peers elsewhere.

During this instability, many more academics fled the country, and a lot of intellectual capital was lost, said Dr Al-Khalil.

“Those two periods were the darkest times in modern Iraqi history, and they had a direct effect on higher education and the institutions that supported it.

“Since then, the higher education system has been undergoing a gradual and difficult reconstruction.”

Dr Al-Khalil, an associate professor in computer communications, said the government has invested in the sector in recent years to establish new universities and improve facilities, though infrastructure and funding remain its biggest challenges.

After fleeing his home and starting work at the University of Northampton, Dr Al-Sherbaz helped create a series of partnerships that allow Iraqi students to learn in the UK.

“I escaped from the country, but I felt by that time that it’s my country I have to (help).

“I’m not a millionaire but I’m in a position that I can help my country and re-establish these partnerships, and bring students in.”

Now an associate professor in mobile and network security at the University of Gloucestershire, his main concern with the sector is a lack of employability skills, believing that key performance indicators should be used, as they are in the UK, to boost job prospects.

He said the belief in higher education is well engrained in society, as parents love to invest in their children.

But despite positive signs for the sector, Dr Al-Sherbaz said he has learned from history not to get his hopes up.

“We’ve never had a steady state time in Iraq. Always there was fluctuation; every four to five years we had something happen in the country which brought down the whole sector,” he said.

Today, there are around 35 public universities and 100 private institutions in the country – with many of those studying in them not even born when the Iraq war began.

After decades of previous attempts, the British University of Iraq could soon join that number and aims to accept students from the 2023-24 academic year.

Victoria Lindsay, founding president of the institution, said she is very hopeful for the prospects of higher education in Iraq because it is “the future of the country”.

“Education is hugely important for Iraqis – Iraqi families will give up a high proportion of their income wherever they can to ensure their children have a very good education,” said Professor Lindsay.

“That’s why we wanted to build the British University of Iraq, so that parents paying for education are getting the real deal.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com