Striking students defiant amid unrelenting protests

Since 25 October, university and school students across Baghdad and Iraq’s south have defied the government and gone on strike to support protesters’ demands for a complete overhaul of the political system, writes Arwa Ibrahim for Al Jazeera.

Protesters have taken to the streets in Baghdad and towns and cities across the mostly Shia south to demand jobs, basic services and an end to corruption. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has since quit and now leads a caretaker government with limited powers, but the grassroots movement wants a complete overhaul of the political system before new elections are held. More than 400 people have been killed and thousands of others wounded in clashes with security forces.

For Hussein, an 18-year-old medical student at Mustansiriya University, taking part in the protests is his only hope for a better future. “There are barely any jobs out there, even if you’re a university graduate,” he told Al Jazeera. “So what’s the point of going to class now and then being unemployed a few years later.”
Full report on the Al Jazeera site