Students vow to teach Baghdad a lesson as school and university groups take the

“The people are tired and there have been so many martyrs, so we came to take our rights,” said Kawthar Hussein, 18, a pupil from Adaya Al Kanaat High School.

She was among the thousands of pupils and university students who formed a sea of white uniforms in squares across Iraq as they came out en masse to join the third day of protests in the country.

“We came to demand a better future, not only for our generation, but for the generations to come,” she said.

“We’ve had enough of this class that does not rule with justice, but with corruption.”

Despite days of deadly protests, Baghdad ordered schools and universities to open as normal.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called on youths to remain in class.

But yesterday, pupils and students walked out in their uniforms and occupied local squares in defiance of government orders.

“Why does Mr Mahdi want to stop us practising a constitutional right? This is not against the law. When we get our rights, then we’ll return to school,” Kawthar said.

Kawthar said she feels as though her generation has no future under the government.

Youth unemployment in Iraq is at about 25 per cent and one in five people live below the poverty line.

“The students from Iraqi universities and high schools left to join the Iraqi uprising because of the complete corruption of the country ... an entire generation has collapsed,” said Ali Sheraty, the secretary for the Iraqi Student Union.

“An entire generation graduates went from university to unemployment without any chance of finding work.”

For decades the main employer has been government departments, leaving a bloated and inefficient public sector.

“We don’t have any opportunities,” Nour Hassoun, a dentistry student at the University of Baghdad, said.

“At the very least we need work. You have to be an engineer or medical student, and even then, it’s rare to work.

“You can’t do anything you want to do. You have to take other careers.”

About 60 per cent of Iraq’s population is under the age of 25. Young people are leading the mass protests, now in their second wave, that have left 250 dead and more than 1,000 wounded.

The Iraqi military admitted to using excessive force in the first round of rallies, but more protesters have been killed in recent days.

On Monday, members of the Iraqi Student Union set up a tent in Tahrir Square, the centre of the protests in Baghdad.

Students say the space provides them with a meeting and gathering point throughout the day. Ali said that while the Student Union supported the

protests, the sit-in and strikes were leaderless.

“Every school organised themselves and came,” said Amany Khaled, 21, a student at Israa University.

“We organised through social media. Then there were groups that decided for more than one school. But there’s no leader.”

She said the strikes have given female students a chance to come out in large numbers, despite social stigmas and the risks of going to dangerous places to demonstrate.

“Four or five universities came and the majority of them were girls,” she said.

The protests have been marked by violence by authorities and Iran-backed militias that have used live ammunition and tear gas on protesters.

But despite the risks, students have vowed to protest until the government changes. “We’ll continue until the government falls,” high school pupil Minar Al Hudaa, 18, said.

As she left the square for the night, she vowed to return the next day.