Students return to class in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Scores of Iraqi middle and high school students returned for the first weeks of class in 2009 as the security situation improves, U.S. military reports said.

Students greeted the new school year with ceremonies in the town of Tarmiya in the central province of Baghdad. U.S. military officials said the area is relatively calm despite escalating targeted violence in the run-up to provincial elections Jan. 31.

Militants had rigged several school construction projects with explosives, and corruption plagued other areas of development, but reconstruction officials have rehabilitated at least 18 schools over the past year, said Stars and Stripes, the official newspaper of the U.S. military.

Education officials in Iraq had issued requests to Baghdad for additional construction funds in 2008 but received little support.

Iraq is on its third round of budget proposals as the war-torn country struggles with the decline in world oil prices. Baghdad based its most recent budget forecast on $62-per-barrel oil, though oil hovered near $50 in Wednesday trading.

Several ministries, from Education to Displacement and Migration, said budget cuts may delay several projects in 2009.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/01/07/Students_return_to_class_in_Iraq/UPI-70151231368151/.