With over 1,200 students attending the Qalat Dizah secondary school, teaching is split into shifts of 600 students in the morning and 600 students in the afternoon. Our project adds a new computer room and connects the school to broadband internet for the first time.

We commenced construction in December 2014 and when completed in March 2015, the room was fully furnished with 15 computers, supporting equipment, teacher training materials and importantly broadband internet connection.

Internet connectivity in the region is very limited and where available very expensive. The children were previously learning to use the internet and computer programs such as Excel by reading books during their scheduled IT classes.

As well as providing internet connectivity and computer equipment at the school we are also paying the salary for a new local IT teacher and the text books for an internationally recognized curriculum.

As our work commenced on the project we developed relationships with a local IT vendor who suggested the room could benefit other schools and teachers in the area who also have limited knowledge and available resources. An adult learning center in Sulaymaniyah runs the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) course which gives students a well-rounded  vocational qualification.

We have also hired an IT teacher from the local community who is currently taking the ICDL course modules and exams.  After this he will receive specific training advice on how best to teach the course. Significantly we are working closely with the regional education minister and the mayor of Qalat Dizah to establish the new as a regional IT leaning center which will for the benefit of the teachers and students across the region. During school time lessons will be held in the IT center as part of the state curriculum but there will also be courses run for the teachers from the wider communities. After school and during the three month summer holidays the IT center will run several courses in a morning and an afternoon shift, five days a week.

Qalat Dizah has 140,000 inhabitants in the Kurdistan Regional Government region in Iraqi Kurdistan, north of Sulaymaniyah, near the Iranian border. Qaladiza means "Castle of Two Rivers" from the Kurdish words Qala= castle, dw= two and ze= river. It is surrounded by mountains like many parts of Kurdistan. The town is located in a middle of "Peshdar". The whole town was devastated during the Iraq and Iran War and all residents were relocated to Bazian and other parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. The people of Qalaze stayed there until the Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991 when they returned to their land where the town has continued to expand, this project will greatly improve the learning opportunities for the local children and improve their employment prospects with new IT skills.

For more information or to support this project please contact our Regional Director for Kurdistan