On January 9, Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research issued a new academic calendar that called for ending university strikes and resuming all study by January 12.

The calendar, the ministry said in a statement, would be a new “starting point for our students and Iraqi public and private universities in a way that guarantees the completion of the current academic year’s requirements, preserves students’ interests and their futures, and avoids losing the current academic year.”

Students’ reactions to the proposal have been mixed, with some returning to campuses to study and others insisting on staying on the streets.

“Three weeks ago, the vast majority of Baghdad’s universities and students were on strike,” said Ameer Ahmed, a 27-year-old medical student at Al Iraqia University in Baghdad. “But the new calendar changed this.”

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Ahmed, who helps coordinate student protesters from several universities, says that students went on strike to fight the government’s policies and support other protesters, providing them with medical and logistic support.

Students in their final year of study “were concerned with many rumors circulating about talk of canceling the entire academic year,” added Ahmed. “A few academic departments issued non-authorized calendars to manipulate students and urge them to resume their studies.”

Ministry Becomes Protest Target

In response to the ministry’s new policy, students organized a sit-in on January 12 in front of the ministry building. The government considered that protest an escalation of the existing conflict and tried to stop protesters from setting up tents.

“We called on the ministry to cancel the partial resumption of studies, to ban any disciplinary committees against students who had participated in or helped organize the protests, and to cancel the new academic calendar,” said Ahmed, who attended that sit-in.

After negotiations with ministry officials, students removed the tents and reopened the nearby road to avoid possible attacks by the informal militias that have terrorized protesters. Some 20 students who stayed at the ministry sit-in were attacked anyway.