Iraqi cabinet body approves prior coordination of provincial school holidays

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's High Coordination Council, chaired by Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaydi, has approved a mechanism to coordinate provincial school holidays in advance with federal authorities. The decision was made during the council's fourth session, which reviewed service, economic and salary matters related to the country's provinces, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Press Office. The meeting was attended by the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, electricity, justice, agriculture, education and water resources, along with the prime minister's secretary general, the council president, governors, provincial council heads, the Baghdad municipality secretary general and advisers. Under the approved framework, local holidays applied to schools in the provinces will be announced in advance and coordinated through the relevant federal ministries and the High Coordination Council. Officials said the measure is intended to prevent discrepancies in school calendars across the provinces and to ensure that official holidays are implemented simultaneously nationwide. No further details on the implementation timeline were immediately available.