Council Celebrates Al Asil School Opening

Council Celebrates Al Asil School Opening 07 October 2003 The Neighborhood Advisory Council from Al Khadra celebrated the Al Asil Primary school opening. The 30 years of Saddam’s reign led to severe degradation of the schools classrooms and facilities. No longer will the students use classrooms damaged by water and sewage, and facilities neglected over the years. The Al Asil school is home to over 600 students from the local area. It will also put 30 teachers back to work, many of which call Al Khadra home – the Headmaster lives just a block away from the school. Spending just under $10,000, the contractor, Ehsan Sebah Mohammed, made good use of limited funds. He made important improvements to the school that will make an immediate impact for the students. This includes paint for the interior and exterior, new glass for the windows, repairing the plumbing and the restroom, replacing the electrical system, and fixing broken or missing tiles. Such improvements allow the students to learn in an improved environment. Other organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO are supplying schools with desks, chalkboards, and student kits that contain pencils, copybooks and rulers. THE NEW FACE TO AL ASIL PRIMARY SCHOOL This school project alone has immeasurably benefited the community of Al Khadra. All of the local laborers, both skilled and unskilled, were hired from the local community. Both the local council, spearheaded by Mr. Al Hashimi, and the coalition forces, conducted the supervision of the project. Regular visits to the school and weekly meeting were the norm for the Al Khadra education committee and 1LT Matthew Johnson, coalition advisor and overall RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY (L TO R), LTC ERIC NANTZ, KAWTHER AHMED AL KOUBAISI, MR. AL project coordinator. HASHIMI, 1LT MATT JOHNSONTask Force 1-325th Airborne Infantry Regiment has committed over $250,000 to the repair of schools, a total of over 35 projects. These school projects are a stepping stone to the integration of the community, council, and the coalition. They show tremendous coalition resolve, and the commitment of the neighborhood advisory council to improve the Iraqi education system.