At the time, over 1.4 million new students were preparing to enter schools, with many — carrying their new backpacks and bidding farewell to their parents — facing the prospect of sitting on the floor in a mud-built classroom that could potentially collapse at any moment.

Saif Farhan, a representative of the Iraqi government overseeing school construction projects, said that decades of conflict have severely damaged the country's educational infrastructure, further exacerbated by insufficient reconstruction efforts, as reported by Xinhua.

"The Iraqi government was eager to contract with accredited international companies, and PowerChina, with its extensive construction experience, was one of the first chosen," Farhan said.