It Takes More Than A Coat Of Paint

By Cernig

Remember all those freshly-painted schools in Iraq? Well, there's a problem or two a new coat of paint won't fix.

Fears of sectarian violence mean plunging school attendance rates but teachers fleeing the country to escape the violence also mean that class overcrowding is worse than ever. The Iraqi government can't even pay school cleaners on time, the kids can't concentrate because of explosions, and the power only works an hour or two each day, even in the capital.

Thus, fully half of the children of a nation that used to pride itself on being one of the best educated in the region now don't graduate from High School.

How's that for a success metric?