Thousands of Iraqi students are heading back to the classroom in the middle of October for the new school year, amid news of a deteriorating security situation in many cities.

Adding to the suffering caused by fears of explosions is the shortage of schools. Even though the state provides close to 22,000 schools, this is still not enough for the enormous number of students. The result is a great deal of congestion in schools and less than ideal instructional time.

Ahmed al-Atabi, a teacher, told Al-Monitor: “These two factors — a sense of there being no security and congestion in the classrooms of rundown school buildings — have played a big role in the breakdown in quality of education, affecting the ability of students to absorb [information], take their classes and regularly attend school. There are other factors hindering the educational process such as the economic situation, transportation and instructional methods.

“The safety of students is our first and foremost priority; there are still car bombs going off as well as improvised explosive devices, most of the time targeting crowded areas.”