Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said that the previous governments did not develop serious programs to end illiteracy in Iraq.
Al-Kadhimi said in a statement issued following his meeting with some scholars on the occasion of the International Literacy Day, "despite the huge number of illiterates in the world, it is still painful to know there are Iraqis who cannot read or write."
"It is unreasonable that there are illiterate people in the land that made pens thousands of years ago," noting, "We regret to admit that the previous governments did not develop serious programs to end illiteracy in Iraq."
He added that the Ministry of Education has instructed developing a comprehensive plan to combat illiteracy on a national scale, "especially as we are facing a continuous population increase that requires wise and immediate steps to provide education."
PM al-Kadhimi continued, "We must admit that mismanagement, corruption, and the lack of a serious educational staff have contributed to low levels of education. We must take wise steps to support the Ministry of Education and the educational staff."
"What was spent during the past decades on wars and conflicts, and wasted in corruption, had it been invested in previous fields, Iraq would have become in another situation today," noting, "the financial allocations fot education are very small which is shameful, and funds must be boosted in the upcoming budgets."
