The displacement of schools: Why double shifts and overcrowding in schools won't end in Iraq
16 Jan 2025
Each year, around one million new students enroll in schools in Iraq. But can the government provide enough school buildings for them? Can students sit in classrooms without being crammed together? And can teachers handle over 40 students per class?
On November 23, while opening 790 new schools from his office in the Green Zone as part of the China-Iraq agreement to build 1,000 school buildings, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani stated that these schools would help with overcrowding and triple shifts for students.
Al-Sudani said that these schools would contribute to solving the issue of triple shifts, avoiding answering any further questions about eliminating double shifts or other overcrowding problems.
The effects of overcrowding harms family life
In Iraq, double and triple shifts refer to two or three schools—each with its students, staff, and administration—sharing one building, divided by time slots throughout the day. Overcrowding refers to the excessive number of students per class, even in schools operating a single shift without sharing the building.
These issues have had a clearly negative impact on the education system in Iraq over the years. Overcrowding increases stress on teachers, affecting their teaching performance and even their disciplinary behaviour, often leading to abuse or conflict between teachers, students and their families.
Double and triple shifts disrupt family routines. They create chaos in scheduling household responsibilities, and push the problem beyond schools, the effects of overcrowding seeps to family life in multiple ways. ة.
Forty percent of schools are displaced
By mid-2022, Iraq had 16,600 school buildings, but there were 26,000 functioning schools, according to the then Education Minister Ali Al-Dulaimi. This means there was a shortage of at least 9,400 school buildings, with approximately 10,000 schools existing only in name without physical buildings. This equates to around 40 percent of schools in Iraq, as confirmed by Iraq’s Central Bureau of Statistics.




Insufficient buildings
Iraq’s government does not provide updated statistics or data, leaving uncertainties about how many new schools were opened. However, by the end of 2023, the Ministry of Education announced completing 1,460 educational facilities, including new openings and renovations, with over 1,000 schools falling under renovation projects.
With the opening of 600 schools in 2022 and 2023 combined, alongside the 790 recently opened by Al-Sudani and 210 more planned for 2024, Iraq will have completed over 1,600 school buildings in three years. While significant, this addresses only 10% of the shortage.

Growing deficits despite the creation of some new schools
The shortage in schools has grown over the last three years. In 2022, the deficit was approximately 10,000 schools. While new schools reduced the deficit to around 8,000, growing demand added the need for over 5,000 more schools, resulting in a total shortage of 13,000 schools—an increase of 30 percent.
Many students, old and new
The number of primary and secondary school students in Iraq is approximately 13 million, distributed across roughly 28,000 schools. This means that, on average, each school has about 450 students, which is considered to be overcrowded.
Overcrowding is a major problem in the challenging educational journey for Iraqi students. The shortage of schools forces many children in rural areas to travel many kilometres to attend schools in other regions.
Even for students fortunate enough to live in areas with schools nearby, their safety is at risk due to poor urban planning and the neglect of safety warnings. For instance, in April 2024, a tragic incident in Basra occurred when a speeding truck killed and injured nearly 20 children as they crossed the street to attend school. This tragedy was caused by the municipality’s failure to construct pedestrian bridges near the school.
If students safely reach their school, they often sit in dilapidated classrooms, use unsanitary restrooms, and there is a lack of clean water. According to a 2021 UNESCO survey, fewer than half of Iraq’s schools have access to safe drinking water.
With an average of 450 students per school and an annual enrollment of one million new first graders, Iraq requires over 2,000 new schools to open yearly to meet the growing demand. However, the country has only built 1,600 schools in three years, far below the required number.
The Ministry of Planning estimated that around 7,000 schools have been completed or are under construction, including 1,000 schools as part of the agreement with China and over 1,470 schools under the Ministry of Education’s Project No. 1. These figures suggest that, over the next two years, no more than 2,000 new schools will be added. Meanwhile, the school shortage is expected to escalate to even higher levels.

Bathrooms of two schools in Baghdad. Source: Ministry of Environment
Sixty percent overcrowding
Even if Iraq were to build 10,000 new schools within a year, the issue of overcrowding would persist. The Teachers Syndicate estimates that Iraq needs 20,000 schools to end classroom congestion.
According to UNESCO standards, classrooms should have an average of 25 students per teacher. However, in Iraqi schools, classrooms typically have 45 to 50 students, resulting in a 60 percent overcrowding rate.
Overcrowding places Iraq 127th out of 177 countries in the Global Education Quality Index, ranking it among the lowest third of countries worldwide in terms of education quality.

Escalating crisis, shortages, and deficits are recurring phenomena across different sectors in Iraq, with electricity being a prime example. Such issues make promises of any resolution seem laughable to Iraqis, worn down by years of failures.
When deficits in areas such as schools, electricity, or gas are publicly declared, and the impact of ongoing projects on these deficits is highlighted as a solution, it often overlooks the inevitable rise in future demand.
The time required to complete projects—three to five years—is typically enough to address shortages from five years ago. However, new demands accumulate during those years, transforming into fresh deficits without clear strategies or comprehensive plans to address these deficits while also curbing future demand.
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On November 23, while opening 790 new schools from his office in the Green Zone as part of the China-Iraq agreement to build 1,000 school buildings, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani stated that these schools would help with overcrowding and triple shifts for students.
Al-Sudani said that these schools would contribute to solving the issue of triple shifts, avoiding answering any further questions about eliminating double shifts or other overcrowding problems.
The effects of overcrowding harms family life
In Iraq, double and triple shifts refer to two or three schools—each with its students, staff, and administration—sharing one building, divided by time slots throughout the day. Overcrowding refers to the excessive number of students per class, even in schools operating a single shift without sharing the building.
These issues have had a clearly negative impact on the education system in Iraq over the years. Overcrowding increases stress on teachers, affecting their teaching performance and even their disciplinary behaviour, often leading to abuse or conflict between teachers, students and their families.
Double and triple shifts disrupt family routines. They create chaos in scheduling household responsibilities, and push the problem beyond schools, the effects of overcrowding seeps to family life in multiple ways. ة.
Forty percent of schools are displaced
By mid-2022, Iraq had 16,600 school buildings, but there were 26,000 functioning schools, according to the then Education Minister Ali Al-Dulaimi. This means there was a shortage of at least 9,400 school buildings, with approximately 10,000 schools existing only in name without physical buildings. This equates to around 40 percent of schools in Iraq, as confirmed by Iraq’s Central Bureau of Statistics.




Insufficient buildings
Iraq’s government does not provide updated statistics or data, leaving uncertainties about how many new schools were opened. However, by the end of 2023, the Ministry of Education announced completing 1,460 educational facilities, including new openings and renovations, with over 1,000 schools falling under renovation projects.
With the opening of 600 schools in 2022 and 2023 combined, alongside the 790 recently opened by Al-Sudani and 210 more planned for 2024, Iraq will have completed over 1,600 school buildings in three years. While significant, this addresses only 10% of the shortage.

Growing deficits despite the creation of some new schools
The shortage in schools has grown over the last three years. In 2022, the deficit was approximately 10,000 schools. While new schools reduced the deficit to around 8,000, growing demand added the need for over 5,000 more schools, resulting in a total shortage of 13,000 schools—an increase of 30 percent.
Many students, old and new
The number of primary and secondary school students in Iraq is approximately 13 million, distributed across roughly 28,000 schools. This means that, on average, each school has about 450 students, which is considered to be overcrowded.
Overcrowding is a major problem in the challenging educational journey for Iraqi students. The shortage of schools forces many children in rural areas to travel many kilometres to attend schools in other regions.
Even for students fortunate enough to live in areas with schools nearby, their safety is at risk due to poor urban planning and the neglect of safety warnings. For instance, in April 2024, a tragic incident in Basra occurred when a speeding truck killed and injured nearly 20 children as they crossed the street to attend school. This tragedy was caused by the municipality’s failure to construct pedestrian bridges near the school.
If students safely reach their school, they often sit in dilapidated classrooms, use unsanitary restrooms, and there is a lack of clean water. According to a 2021 UNESCO survey, fewer than half of Iraq’s schools have access to safe drinking water.
With an average of 450 students per school and an annual enrollment of one million new first graders, Iraq requires over 2,000 new schools to open yearly to meet the growing demand. However, the country has only built 1,600 schools in three years, far below the required number.
The Ministry of Planning estimated that around 7,000 schools have been completed or are under construction, including 1,000 schools as part of the agreement with China and over 1,470 schools under the Ministry of Education’s Project No. 1. These figures suggest that, over the next two years, no more than 2,000 new schools will be added. Meanwhile, the school shortage is expected to escalate to even higher levels.

Bathrooms of two schools in Baghdad. Source: Ministry of Environment
Sixty percent overcrowding
Even if Iraq were to build 10,000 new schools within a year, the issue of overcrowding would persist. The Teachers Syndicate estimates that Iraq needs 20,000 schools to end classroom congestion.
According to UNESCO standards, classrooms should have an average of 25 students per teacher. However, in Iraqi schools, classrooms typically have 45 to 50 students, resulting in a 60 percent overcrowding rate.
Overcrowding places Iraq 127th out of 177 countries in the Global Education Quality Index, ranking it among the lowest third of countries worldwide in terms of education quality.

Escalating crisis, shortages, and deficits are recurring phenomena across different sectors in Iraq, with electricity being a prime example. Such issues make promises of any resolution seem laughable to Iraqis, worn down by years of failures.
When deficits in areas such as schools, electricity, or gas are publicly declared, and the impact of ongoing projects on these deficits is highlighted as a solution, it often overlooks the inevitable rise in future demand.
The time required to complete projects—three to five years—is typically enough to address shortages from five years ago. However, new demands accumulate during those years, transforming into fresh deficits without clear strategies or comprehensive plans to address these deficits while also curbing future demand.