ERBIL () — Eight schools in the Garmiyan Independent Administration are at risk of collapse due to years of neglect and a lack of renovation, with the lives of 350 students at risk at one school alone, the administration’s Director General of Education told on Tuesday.
Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Director General of Education in Garmiyan, said that the level of risk varies among the eight schools, but the greatest danger is at Sarqalla and Kulajo schools, which are located about 100 meters apart.
Sarqalla School, built in the 1940s, has not undergone renovation for more than 20 years, Ibrahim said. About 350 students attend the school, putting their safety at serious risk.
A new school building for Sarqalla students has been under construction for several years using funds from the Garmiyan administration’s oil revenues. The project is reportedly 90 percent complete, but the final payment of nearly 100 million Iraqi dinars has not been made, preventing completion of the remaining 10 percent of the work.
As a result, students have been unable to move to the new building during the current academic year.
The Kulajo School, built in the 1950s, is also in poor condition and faces a considerable risk of collapse. Construction of a new building has begun, but only 15 percent of the project has been completed, according to Ibrahim.
He said the authorities had reported the situation to the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Education, and the Garmiyan Independent Administration, requesting that at least the students of Sarqalla School be moved to the unfinished building to protect them from the risk of collapse.
Meanwhile, Kurdistan Region Minister of Education Alan Hama Saeed addressed the issue during a press conference in Erbil on Tuesday, after correspondent Havrest Rajab asked him about the schools.
“I am aware of the issue. Sarqalla School is among the suspended projects in the Garmiyan administration, and we are continuously in contact with the Directorate of Education and other relevant authorities in the area to resolve the problem,” Hama Saeed said.
He added that the ministry had held an online meeting with Garmiyan’s Director General of Education earlier on Tuesday and asked him to visit the Garmiyan Independent Administration to assess the situation on the ground.
“We have requested that either the work on these schools be completed through the contractor, or that the project be handed back to us so that we can find another way to complete them,” the minister said.
He pledged that, in coordination with the Barzani Charity Foundation and relevant authorities, efforts would be made to resolve the issue and renovate the schools.
“The safety of students and teachers is our top priority,” Hama Saeed said.
The Garmiyan Directorate General of Education oversees approximately 380 to 400 educational institutions across Kalar and Kifri districts and surrounding areas, including kindergartens, public and private primary schools, and secondary schools.
Most students in the area are Kurdish, while two schools provide education in the Turkmen language.
