3 March 1999
CUSU COUNCIL NOTES:
- that article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
recognises the right of all children to education, and obliges all countries to
work towards making higher education accessible to all;
- that before Sanctions were imposed on Iraq by the UN following Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait, illiteracy rates in Iraq had been decreasing steadily
(female illiteracy was 25.2% in 1987 down from 62.4% in 1977; male illiteracy
was 13% in 1987 down from 24.4% in 1977);
- with UNICEF (April 1998 report), that the increase in literacy in
Iraq has slowed considerably in comparison with other Arab countries and that
male literacy had decreased to 1995;
- with UNICEF, that "[sc. amongst Iraqis] social esteem for education
is dwindling...in the face of economic decline";
- with UNICEF, that the number of teachers in Iraq is falling by 10%
each year;
- with UNICEF, that 1 million (20%) of Iraqi schoolchildren and
students did not enroll in 1998;
- that economic sanctions on Iraq have prevented the import into Iraq
of all of the following at some point since 1991: books, journals, pencils, and
school desks;
- that the impoverishment of Iraq caused by economic sanctions has
resulted in a steady decline in the budget of the Ministry of Education;
- with UNESCO, that 1.34 million books are required for 'priority
needs' in the Iraqi education system;
- with UNICEF, that 4520 schools in Iraq need extensive
rehabilitation;
- that it is UK policy not only to maintain and enforce the sanctions,
but also to tighten them further.
CUSU COUNCIL BELIEVES:
- that communication between students in this country and those in
different countries, including Iraq, may be of mutual benefit;
- that the absence of teachers and the paucity of funds and resources
in primary and secondary level education in Iraq will adversely affect the
standard of schoolchildren's education in Iraq;
- that as a result of (2) admissions and standards in Iraqi
universities can only fall;
- that a high standard of university education in the present is
integral to Iraq's ability, when sanctions end, to - manage the reconstruction
and maintainance of its infrastructure - to run a fully functional health
service - maintain the number of teachers and academics in its education
system.
CUSU COUNCIL RESOLVES:
- to support our fellow students in Iraq whose education is being
compromised by economic sanctions;
- to support Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq (CASI) in expressing
concern about the educational situation in Iraq;
- to allocate CASI £40 in photocopying facilities to enable it to
spread awareness among Cambridge University students of the educational system
in Iraq;
- to support CASI in its aim to initiate contact with Iraqi university
students;
- to support the sending of books to Iraqi schools and universities
when CASI has found a legitimate channel to do this.
Proposed by Elinor Wakefield (Queens')
Seconded by Seb Wills
(Clare).