Today we hear from Cmdr. Bruno Himmler, M.D., health and humanitarian assistance advisor PKSOI, U.S. Army War College, and Dr. Shakir Jawad, assistant professor, USU, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. They have jointly written this report from the recent Iraqi Academic Conference, held March 14-15 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

This two-day symposium brought together key Iraqi–American academic leaders currently practicing in the United States in the disciplines of medicine, science, engineering, humanities and culture. The focus of the conference was to discuss current situations in Iraq regarding higher education and to set up timelines and implementation plans of ways for Iraqi–American academic leaders  here to engage and help the reform the educational process in Iraq.
 
The conference was hosted by the cultural attaché at the Iraqi Embassy and the National Academies.  The focus of discussion centered around three topics:
 
How can Iraqi–American professionals engage in mentoring Iraqi students in Iraq?
 
How can Iraqi professionals help reform the teaching methodologies at Iraqi Universities?
 
What should the priority be for Iraq’s 10,000 graduate fellowship awards?
 
Key take-home messages from the discussions include:

1.  Though funding for sabbaticals, research and fellowships exist for many Iraqi students, receiving J-1 visas or similar visas to enter the USA is a very lengthy and cumbersome process.  All agreed that a joint formal request to Department of State and Department of Homeland Security to help lessen this burden is critical.
 
2.  It was recognized that there was a lack of Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education presence at the conference, though a U.S. Embassy Education Attaché was present. Fortunately, there was representation of the Kurdistan Regional government/Iraq by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Idris hadi Salih. Kurdistan has enjoyed a more secure environment over the last four years which has allowed advancement of education reform and participation in numerous international educational opportunities.
 
3.  Many agreed that the teaching model in Iraq is still based on the archaic lecture form and they want to help the Minister of Higher Education reform the universities to utilize more student-centered approaches with didactic hours and dialog.
 
4.  For determining the focus of attention, the first step should be to talk with the Iraqi Ministry and University leaders to hear what their priorities are. Also, studies in the form of well-structured surveys are needed to identify the current gaps in reforming the educational system and to see where the shortages are in professionals (doctors, engineers, scientists, professors).  Once this has been done, a consortium in the U.S. could be established to coordinate efforts here that would focus on those key priorities for Iraq.
 
5.  “Culturally aware people do not kill other people.” Consensus is that providing the youth of Iraq (54.3 percent of total population) with secondary educational opportunities will help enlighten them and draw them away from the extreme or radical ideology that converts them into suicide bombers and killers.
 
6.  More active participation of USG agencies such as USAID, DOS, HHS, Dept of Education and other NGOs with interest in education would have provided more opportunities for discussion on implementation concepts and best practices.

Given the volatile state that still exists in Iraq, it is of vital importance that work is done to bring about reform of the current educational system in Iraq and to open doors for young Iraqi students to receive educational opportunities inside and outside of Iraq. If the government funds these opportunities, it will also need to ensure there are good incentives such as better general living conditions and well-trained human resource management teams are available for the students when they return to Iraq. Concurrently, the government will also need to have expectations in place that require service in Iraq for 2-5 years.