Vocational Education in Kirkuk (1945-1958) in Light of the Reports of the Ministry of Education

Vocational education is one of the types of formal education that is based on preparing skilled workers in various industrial, agricultural and commercial specializations to have sufficient cognitive knowledge in this field. Vocational education is a field for gaining knowledge, scientific and practical experience, and practicing training and scientific application in many craft and professional fields. The beginnings of vocational education in Kirkuk date back to the second half of the nineteenth century, specifically in the year (1871), when the first industrial school was established under Ottoman rule in Kirkuk after its establishment in Baghdad in the same year. After the end of Ottoman rule and the advent of the British occupation, vocational education did not witness any development due to the occupation policy that consecrated backwardness and dependency and neglected the education sector in general except with regard to its need for labor from craftsmen and others. As soon as the national rule was dissolved in 1921, the education sector witnessed clear interest from the state, because it needed educated elements from its sons to occupy government positions in the new structure of the state. Most of the studies that studied the education sector in Iraq dealt with education in general and sometimes took aspects of vocational education in the context of the educational process. It would have been more appropriate to research the details of this type of education and give it a special status in study and research.