Kurdistan Education Minister Announces Emergency Funding and Support Measures in Chamchamal on Flag Day
The minister said the measures were approved with the backing of KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and are intended to meet urgent needs while reinforcing the long-term educational infrastructure in the Garmian area.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Education Alan Hama Saeed on Wednesday announced a series of financial and administrative decisions aimed at supporting the education sector in Chamchamal, during his participation in Kurdistan Flag Day ceremonies in the Takiya subdistrict, part of Chamchamal district.
Speaking at the event marking Flag Day on Dec. 17, the minister said the measures were approved with the backing of KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and were designed to address urgent needs while strengthening long-term educational infrastructure in the area.
Hama Saeed confirmed that a total of 335 million Iraqi dinars had been allocated as an emergency and operational budget for the education sector in Chamchamal. He stated that the funding reflects the government’s commitment to reducing disparities between districts and ensuring equitable access to educational services.
According to the breakdown provided by the minister, 130 million dinars were disbursed in cash to the Sulaimani Directorate of Education to renovate schools that have suffered damage. An additional 100 million dinars was earmarked to procure equipment and supplies requested by the Chamchamal education administration. A further 101 million dinars was allocated to provide 85,000 new textbooks, 2,000 schoolbags, and essential stationery materials for students.
Placing the announcement in a broader context, Hama Saeed noted that since 2022, approvals have been granted for spending more than five billion dinars on the construction, rehabilitation, and completion of schools across the Sulaimani governorate.
He called on journalists and oversight bodies to follow up on how much of that budget has been implemented, stressing the importance of transparency and accountability in public spending.
In another part of his remarks, the education minister announced a formal decision to extend official appreciation and recognition to all teachers in Chamchamal, praising their dedication and commitment, particularly during recent emergency conditions.
He described teachers as the backbone of the education system and emphasized that their efforts had played a critical role in maintaining continuity in schooling.
Addressing broader budgetary reforms, Hama Saeed said the Ministry of Education had revised allocation ratios to better reflect regional needs. He explained that two percent of the education budget previously allocated to Erbil and Duhok had been redirected to Garmian and Halabja. As a result, Garmian’s share of the education budget increased from four percent to eight percent.
He added that each governorate’s budget has been transferred directly to its respective administration to ensure more efficient and localized spending.
The announcements, made on a day symbolizing Kurdistan's unity and resilience, underscored the KRG’s efforts to link national identity with tangible investments in future generations, particularly in underserved areas of the Kurdistan Region.
Last week, the Chamchamal district in Sulaimani province was hit by a sudden and severe flash flood following days of heavy rainfall. The floods caused widespread damage to homes, schools, and local infrastructure, displacing dozens of families and disrupting daily life in the district.
Local authorities, civil society organizations, and community volunteers quickly mobilized to provide emergency assistance, including temporary shelter, food, and medical aid, while assessing the extent of the damage.
In a concerted government-led effort to restore stability to the flood-ravaged educational and social infrastructure of the Kurdistan Region, the KRG has initiated a massive logistical operation to replace the academic resources destroyed by recent torrential rains, while humanitarian teams simultaneously escalate relief efforts for thousands of displaced residents.
On Sunday, following a direct recommendation from Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the Ministry of Education commenced the deployment of 55,000 new textbooks to the Chamchamal district, a strategic move designed to salvage the academic year for nearly five thousand students whose classrooms and materials were decimated by the deluge.
This educational lifeline runs parallel to an extensive emergency response by Kurdistan Foundation and the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF), which has deployed millions in resources—from kerosene to hot meals—to mitigate a crisis that has left hundreds of homes uninhabitable and forced families in the hardest-hit neighborhoods to flee their properties.
The decision to replenish the district’s educational stocks on such a scale underscores the severity of the disaster that unfolded earlier this week.