Update

One in five Iraqis between the ages of 10 and 49 cannot read or write a simple statement related to daily life[1]. While Iraq boasted a record low illiteracy rate for the Middle East in the 1980s, illiteracy jumped to at least 20% in 2010[2].  Moreover, illiteracy among women in Iraq, at 24%, is more than double that of men (11%)[3]. As the Iraq Liaison for the international NGO Mercy Corps pointed out, "there are some locations-particularly rural locations-where the illiteracy rates are actually much higher. Illiteracy rates among women in some communities can be as high as 40-50%."

Iraq was considered a reputable model for education in the Arab world only a few decades ago. Shortly after hosting the 1976 "Baghdad Conference for the Eradication of Illiteracy"-in which Arab leaders and international experts discussed the potential for progressive educational reforms in the region-the Ba'athist-led Iraqi government passed the Compulsory Education Law. Children between the ages of 6 and 15 were required to attend state schools; those who violated this law would have to serve time in state prison. This law helped raise the literacy rate in many governorates and strengthened the Iraqi state's role as the chief maintainer and supervisor of the free public education system. Consequently, UNESCO estimated that primary schools had nearly a 100% gross enrollment attendance rate in the 1980s and much of the 1990s.[4]