Students in Basra University facing tough times

Students at the University of Basra, Iraq's second largest, have been under pressure since they started the new term a month ago, because they are crammed into just under half the university's accommodation due to lack of resources. The university's southern compound embraces the colleges of economy, law, arts, fine arts, as well as various studies centres and the central library. The compound was looted and some parts burnt after the latest war, with the result that everything had to be relocated to the southern compound, which houses the engineering, agriculture and veterinary colleges. "We are returning again to our buildings from the start of next week, but literally with only some chairs and blackboards," Ali Hamid Rahim, the deputy director of the cultural, public relations and information department of the arts faculty, told IRIN in Basra. "There will be no lights, no essential services, no toilets, but it will be closer to our students, and we hope we will get them back." He added that the economics department was slightly better off as it had not been completely looted, whereas the other departments had been totally wiped out, being located in a poor rural area. "We have nothing left, really nothing. Everything is gone, theses were sold and documents in the central library are gone," Imad Hazim, a PhD student at the geography department, told IRIN. He and other graduate students are trying through professors and with the help of the British Council to contact professors in Britain with a view to obtaining the documents they need to finish their theses via e-mail. The Centre of Iranian Studies, the Arabian Gulf Studies Centre and the Centre of History of Basra's Documentation were also looted in the southern compound near the main library. On the other side, the northern compound has had to cope last month with a shorter schedule to give space to enable students from the other compound to study. "We had to make space in other buildings and it made us use them only three times a day, Zayd Hamid, a professor of Arabic, told IRIN. "The biggest problem we face is that parents who have daughters coming to the University of Basra from other southern governorates prevent them from attending lectures," noting that this was adversely affecting educational standards. Salah Hashim al-Asadi, the dean of student affairs at the college of education in the northern compound, said it was regrettable that the university, which had welcomed many Palestinian students, as well as students from Bahrain, Jordan and Yemen, in the 1970s, was now facing such problems. "The security situation is really affecting the educational standard. Students used to have lectures until 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., but now we try to end work by 2:00 p.m., especially during winter time," he explained. The university has between 21,000 to 23,000 students. Isra Najm, a third-year student at the physics department said she was happy that a cultural subject related to the Ba'thist ideology had been omitted, which was a relief to all the students, but she was concerned over resources. "Although the northern complex managed to protect some of its equipment, as professors were expecting that to happen, some labs in the sciences department were looted," she said. Students from other governorates who used to live in dormitories have another problem. "When we started the term, we went to the students' residences to find some of them occupied by families. I stay with another 16 students in a small flat without beds, doors or a locker," Haydar Ali, a student from Al-Amarah Governorate, who is studying at the college of education, told IRIN. "Everything was stolen from the place, nothing is available, the closest water is more than 500 metres away and we cook our food on a heater," he said.