Imam al Sadik School opens in Husseniyah

Photo By Master Sgt. Jerry Saslav | Dr. Nehad Abas al Jabouri, the deputy minister of education, cuts the ribbon to officially receive control of the Imam al Sadik School in Husseniyah, located in Baghdad's Istaqlal district, during a ceremony Dec. 24. The new, multi-level school can accommodate 3,000 students. Some of the new features the school will have are: "wet" science labs for chemistry and biology which will allow students to perform experiments, a computer lab with internet capability at each computer and a state of the art auditorium for student performances.  

IRAQ

12.27.2008

Story by Sgt. Jerry Saslav 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

By Sgt. Jerry Saslav
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

HUSSENIYAH, Iraq – Christmas came one day early to the residents of the town of the Husseniyah, located in Baghdad's Istaqlal district with the grand opening of Imam al Sadik School Dec. 24.

With the Iraqi national police providing security, the new multi-level school opened with a small ceremony. Dr. Nehad Abas al Jabouri, the deputy minister of education, cut the ribbon to officially receive control of the school; Iraqi school children then welcomed al-Jabouri with a song and then a performance.

"This project will open a good opportunity for local children," said Kasim Raheem who is the representative for the ministry of education for northern Baghdad. "We're starting to raise the educational level in Iraq."

The new high school will replace a smaller, overcrowded facility. The previous compound was running its classes in shifts; one group of students would come to school for a few hours and then be dismissed for the day, they were then replaced by another group of students. In some cases, there were more than three shifts of students per day.

"Husseniyah's population has grown over the last two to three years; due to the fighting in Baghdad, a lot of people moved up to Husseniyah," said Capt. John Goldsworthy, a native of Rosalia, Wash., who serves as the team leader of the embedded local reconstruction team, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment "Wolfhounds," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, currently attached to the 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

Local officials, working with coalition forces, decided that something must be done. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed and funded the project; local contractors did the actual construction.

"Education became a really hard job for the teacher. We are doing our best but unfortunately we can't do too much because we're facing a lack of schools. We have 50 to 75 students in a classroom for each teacher. How can a teacher teach in a crowded classroom," said Mohammed Rkais, the assistant headmaster for the school.

The new school will ease the overcrowding and will be able to accommodate 3,000 students. Some of the new features the school will have are: "wet" science labs for chemistry and biology which will allow students to perform experiments, a computer lab with internet capability at each of the 10 computers, a state of the art auditorium for student performances and new classroom and administrative furniture.

The old high school will become a middle school to help ease the overcrowding at that grade level.

• Date Taken: 12.27.2008
• Date Posted: 12.27.2008 04:46
• Story ID: 28184
• Location: IQ