IRAQ: Director General of Syriac Study receives Director of Iraq’s satellite TV channel Education Sat

BAGHDAD – On Monday, the Director General of the Directorate of Syriac study Mr. Imad Salem Jajo received Mr. Ahmed Adel al-Maliki, Director of the Iraqi satellite TV channel Education Sat. The two sides discussed preparations and developments in educational programming of the Directorate of Syriac Study for the start of the new school year 2020-21 which will be broadcast on Education Sat.

The Iraqi educational TV channel supports millions of learners in primary and secondary education and provides in the educational needs now more important than ever while schools are closed on-and-off closed due to pandemic. The educational channel is especially important for the hundreds of thousands of IDPs in refugee camps and other vulnerable children and youth.

Education Sat’s broadcasting is maintained by the Iraqi Ministry of Education to provide lessons in the two official languages of Iraq, Arabic and Kurdish, and in recognized languages such as Syriac. Through TV recordings and via the Newton digital learning platform, educational training, material, and development courses are offered to tens of millions of children and youth.

The Directorate of Syriac study recently successfully held a central development course on the digital learning platform dedicated to teachers of the Syriac language and Christian education for schools in Baghdad, Kerkeslokh (Kirkuk), and Nineveh.

With regards to the recognized status of the Syriac language in Iraq, the official Iraqi Media Network owned by the Ministry of Information mid-2019 launched satellite TV channel IRAQIA SYRIAC (قناة العراقية السريانية or al-Iraqia al-Syrian). The opening of IRAQIA SYRIAC was already approved in 2014 but only started operating last year due to government deficits in its financial budget.

IRAQIA SYRIAC, together with e.g. IRAQIA KURD and IRAQIA TURKUMEN, is part of the national media landscape and reflects the social and religious composition and values of Iraqi society.