RELEASE NUMBER: 040728-04
DATE POSTED: JULY 28, 2004
New schools to withstand seasons in northern Iraq
By Spc.
Gretel Sharpee
139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
MOSUL, Iraq (Digital Video
Imagery Distribution System, July 28, 2004) — School
children in many outlying villages in Ninevah Province do not need to
worry about rain falling on their heads when they return to school this
fall. They can now focus on education.
Twenty villages in the Ninevah Province will receive new concrete
primary schools to replace the weather beaten mud buildings that were
used before. Iraqi workers from Mosul are building schools out of
concrete and plaster in preparation for the approaching school year.
“These schools will make having class during the rainier winter months
possible,” said Maj. Maggie Flavin, chief of the 416th Civil Affairs
Battalion's Public Education Team. “Before, students couldn’t have
class if it was raining because the roof would leak, now they can have
it in any weather.”
The director of education in Mosul, Saaed Hamed, wanted all of the
schools in the Ninevah province area to be replaced by concrete
structures that would offer a more suitable environment for education.
Flavin submitted a project request for the Ninevah Province area and
received $1.45 million for 20 out of 80 schools in the area.
The 416th Soldiers hired a contractor to finish the projects by
September. The contractor organized workers from the Mosul area and
each of the villages to complete the school construction. The
employment of local workers from each of the villages brought money
into the local economy. Each project employees about 30 people who are
working to ensure that the schools will be ready for the start of the
academic year this fall.
The new schools will be double the square meters of the previous
structures and most have an attendance of about 75 students. The
primary schools educate students through the sixth year of education.
These new schools are a working example of the efforts of the
multinational forces, in partnership with local Iraqi citizens, to help
Iraq establish itself as a progressive, democratic country.
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