AKRE, Kurdistan Region - Students from a village in Akre town take a long journey to a school in a neighboring village, trekking two kilometres through hills and rugged terrain to get to the destination.
The journey to the school, located in a nearby village, becomes even more arduous for the 14 students of Kolakan village during the winter.
“When it rains our bags and books get. We can’t go to school,” Rawad Nawzad, one of the young students, told Rudaw.
Twenty-seven families live in the village.
Villagers have turned a house into a school with consultation with the government, which does not allow the opening of a school with less than 15 students.
“After speaking with the education [ministry], he began emptying and cleaning the building and invested some money into it. They said they would provide us with two cabins,” Rajab Ibrahim, a villager, said.
He added the government has not done “anything” for them so far.
Many children have been deprived of education due to the lack of a school.
The village chieftain has made numerous efforts to persuade the government to address their demands, but all have been in vain.
“Our girls have become adults but they don’t know how to read their names or find phone numbers. Same is true with boys. Everyone will go to school if there is a school,” said Osman Ahmed.
There used to be a school in the village between 2005 to 2009 but it was closed because it did not meet the minimum enrollment requirement.