Fewer girls enrolled in education in Iraq

This from today’s report by the UN Children’s Fund:

“In Iraq the overall number of children receiving primary education has decline between 2004-05 and 2007-08 by 88,164, with no improvement in the percentage of girls enrolled…
This under representation of girls in primary school in Iraq has been known for many years.”

The report goes on to say that 75% of the girls who do start primary school in Iraq drop out before they reach intermediate education. I’ve not got the figures to hand, but that sounds like it might be below even the averages for sub-Sarahan Africa, and the reasons behind the declining figures are truly appalling. UNICEF says that in response to its surveys primary school girls told them they had concerns about:

“Safety, family poverty… teachers who beat them… dirty lavatories and no drinking water.”

The list goes on.