RIC Query - Iraq (28 January 2003)

Iraq

Query:

Please provide information on the language of instruction in the fields of veterinary medicine and computer science at the University of Mosul in Iraq.

Response:

According to a Washington Institute for Near East Policy adjunct fellow who recently spent nine months teaching at universities in northern Iraq, the language of instruction for higher education in science and medicine throughout Iraq is English. Textbooks are available in English and in Arabic (Adjunct Fellow 16 Dec 2002).

In Iraq, students are tested in the final year of secondary schooling (high school). Test scores determine whether or not a student will be able to enter higher education in medicine or the sciences (Adjunct Fellow 24 Jan 2003).

In the opinion of the adjunct fellow, admission to university with insufficient subject matter and/or English proficiency scores ¿...would probably indicate that [one] either had political connections or had paid a significant bribe for the position. Either way¿political connections or ability to pay the bribe¿should indicate that [one] had political favor¿ (Adjunct Fellow 16 Dec 2002, 24 Jan 2003). In other words, individuals who do not speak English yet claim to be students of medicine or science in Iraq may have been admitted to university on the basis of their political affiliation, i.e., with the Ba'ath Party, or some other personal connection (Adjunct Fellow 16 Dec 2002).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RIC within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References:

Adjunct Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Emails to the INS Resource Information Center (16 Dec 2002, 24 Jan 2003).