A Japanese-System Elementary School in War-Torn Iraq

A great episode to share with you folks at the year's end. In the midst of fierce battles between the government forces and the IS an elementary school is born in Iraq fully adopting the Japanese elementary school system to foster future Iraqis ready to rebuild their torn motherland.

The idea sprang from a scholar of Japanese political history at an Iraqi college who vowed to adopt the education system of Japan whose post-war reconstruction he finds utterly remarkable. The Iraqi scholar, associate professor whose name this desk can only quote as pronounced in Japanese, Ala Ahmeri, picked Bagdad, the capital of Iraq, as the site of this elementary school to signify its mission to contribute to educating key human resources for the future rebuilding of Iraq.

On December 26, the opening ceremony of the elementary school was held at the Japanese Embassy participated by 10 of 230 pupils enrolled. The pupils talked and sung in new-learned Japanese.
The school will stress curricula on moral education, educational guidance through class activities and also give lessons in Japanese. Pupils will learn cleaning classrooms and the importance of stick to rules.

A male pupil said in excitement:

"It's so nice that we learn Japan and a lot of other things. I'm looking forward to our new school".
Ass. Prof. Armeri comments:

"We believe it is of utmost importance that we inherit from Japanese society what it stands on, that is the notion of harmony. We strive to rear new generation that values teamwork".

The years' long struggles with the extremist Islamic militant groups IS have jeopardized the country's economy to the point of cutting deep into expenditures in education. The people's malcontent is so widespread now that the just opened elementary school is indeed a welcome event. 

News Source: NHK