Nearly 20,000 employees of Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity have been enrolled in a government program aimed at teaching them how to read and write, highlighting the continuing impact of decades of war and disruption on the country’s education system.

The program, launched jointly by Iraq’s Ministries of Education and Electricity, will provide literacy education to 19,939 employees in Baghdad and other provinces.

Haitham Munther, Director of Media and Communications at the Executive Agency for Literacy Eradication at the Ministry of Education, said specialized teachers and educational materials will be provided at literacy centers established within electricity ministry offices and affiliated companies.

According to Munther, the high number of illiterate employees is largely linked to the widespread recruitment of contract workers in recent years. While the ministry previously employed between 90,000 and 95,000 workers, more than 100,000 additional employees have reportedly been recruited through contracts in recent years.

Many of those workers were hired as manual laborers, tradespeople and other lower-ranking employees, some of whom had missed out on formal education because of war and the difficult conditions experienced by the country.

“These are young people who, because of war and the difficult circumstances caused by those wars, were not given the opportunity to attend school and learn how to read and write,” Munther said.

Under the initiative, some employees will attend existing literacy centers, while others will study at newly established centers inside Ministry of Electricity buildings and affiliated companies.

The program is part of a broader government campaign to combat illiteracy among public sector employees. In July, around 11,000 lower-ranking personnel affiliated with Iraq’s Ministry of Interior were also enrolled in a mandatory literacy program.

According to Iraq’s 2024 national census, the country’s illiteracy rate stands at 15.3 percent. Illiteracy among government employees is concentrated mainly among lower-ranking personnel, including members of security forces, police, municipal services and facility protection units.