Iraq is continuing to roll out programmes and initiatives aimed at reducing rising school dropout rates, but specialists and activists warn that the measures remain temporary unless they are backed by long-term plans that address the economic and social pressures driving children out of education.
School dropouts have become one of I raq's most serious educational and social challenges since the 2003 US-led invasion, which weakened enforcement of compulsory education laws that previously required children to remain in school until the age of 18.
On Saturday, Iraq's Education Ministry announced that more than 13,000 children had returned to school through the 'Fursa' ('Opportunity') programme, adding that the initiative achieved a 95% retention rate during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Ahmed Abbas Rashk, director-general for financial affairs and head of the ministry's national back-to-school campaign, says the programme targets all children under 18, including teenagers who previously dropped out of school.
According to Rashk, the programme was launched in cooperation with the international charity Save the Children and relied on field teams to identify the causes of school dropouts and the areas most affected.
He said the initiative also provided school supplies, transport support and assistive devices for students with disabilities, while activating parent-teacher councils and training educational staff to work with former dropouts.
The programme forms part of a wider series of initiatives launched by the Iraqi government and international organisations in recent years to reduce school dropouts and encourage children to return to education.
Despite these efforts, the crisis remains deeply linked to poverty, displacement and weak public services, particularly in poorer communities and displacement camps.
Umm Abdullah, a displaced Iraqi woman living in a camp in northern Iraq , said poverty forced her sons, Abdullah and Mohammed, to leave school and start working to support the family after their father became too ill to provide for them.
"My children dreamed of completing their education, but the harsh living conditions in the displacement camps pushed them into the labour market at an early age," she told The New Arab , adding that many displaced families faced the same situation.
She appealed to Iraq's government to provide meaningful support for poor and displaced families and create sustainable programmes to return children to school.
Iraqi activist Burhan al-Obaidi told The New Arab that the government had only partially succeeded in returning children to education because it had failed to tackle the root causes driving students to drop out.
"The issue is no longer only educational," he said. "It has become a complex social and economic crisis linked to poverty, unemployment, child labour and family instability," while also pointing to the continuing effects of displacement in several areas.
He warned that many Iraqi families now depend on income earned by children to meet basic needs, making it difficult to return to school even when government initiatives are available.
He also cautioned that continued school dropouts could expand illiteracy and expose children to exploitation and abuse.
Educational psychology specialist Amjad al-Hayani described the programmes as a positive step but said they were insufficient on their own to end the crisis.
"There are children who return to school for short periods and then leave again because economic pressures continue or because there is no stable educational environment," he told The New Arab , stressing the need for broader development policies alongside education initiatives.
Hayani added that Iraq needed long-term plans including support for low-income families, improvements to schools, expanded social welfare programmes and psychological and educational rehabilitation for children who had spent years out of education.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children have entered the labour market over the past two decades as a result of wars, economic crises, displacement and deteriorating public services, severely affecting education levels across the country.
A 2021 report by UNICEF estimated that around 3.2 million school-age Iraqi children were out of school, warning that rising dropout rates not only threaten the future of education but also leave children vulnerable to exploitation and deprivation of their most basic rights.