The Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the heads of public and private universities and the advanced cadre of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research took part in the Iftar table for the fasting of the holy month of Ramadan.
He said during this meeting:
Today, I am happy to be among a constellation of best professors who work in challenging conditions; in order to promote the realities of education.
Education is a great responsibility as you assume, and your attitudes are prophets of science in Iraq that you pass on from generation to generation.
I congratulate our Christian people on the glorious resurrection day, as well as our Muslim people by the middle of the holy month of Ramadan.
– We appreciate your efforts and contribution to society’s industry.
This Government came under difficult and complex circumstances, and faced great challenges, but thanks to God and the patience of our people we were able to succeed and cross the challanges.
– We are required to create opportunity and work to build people, and to achieve important goals, first of all education. The State’s renaissance needs education, and the economy’s renaissance needs education. The four issues on which we are based are: security, law, education and health, and their successes.
– In Iraq, the first library was built in history, and the first university, it is inconceivable that our past is better than our present, and this is not borne by university professors but by the political system that bears responsibility.
The economy was on the brink of collapse, relying solely on oil wealth, although it is a country of civilization and agriculture, and oil prices reached zero in a country whose budget depends on it 96%. Today, large oil-rich countries turned it into a generational enterprise and do not rely on it.
I ask my fellow professors to turn the science into an opportunity for success, and to turn the certificate into an opportunity to study reality, not to earn a higher salary.
– A university professor has the right to seek a better dignified life, but not at the expense of quality or at the expense of science.
I am pleased to hear that the world’s leaders honour Iraqi scientists. We hope that they will go back to Iraq to give the best. The difference is that they have better conditions than they have here in Iraq.
We must move away from the skin of oneself and complain. Citizens have the right to provide the government with an opportunity for a dignified life. When the government fails, they have the right to oppose and demonstrate, but in a manner befitting Iraq and Iraq’s reputation.
– The government is not built without education. If you want a government , there must be a strong army, sober education and a good judiciary.
We are still at the founding stage of the new democratic order and the problems that exist are natural at the founding stage; Therefore, these problems must not take us as an opportunity to hope, not to surrender to destiny under the heading of challenges; Work to turn challenges into opportunities for success
The solution is yours, we bow to your efforts and we hold you responsible for the future, you are the ones who make the new generation and arm it with science, education is incomprehensible.
– We will work a lot for you and soon discuss your needs with the Ministers of Education and Planning and the rest of the Ministers and access to a mechanism to support higher education and its teachers, and I commend all of you for your efforts for the future.