The Mukhtar

Recently, the first of my English Composition class were due. And as you might imagine, in the anticipation of assignment due dates and midterm exams, there was an increase in the number of student absences. And following these absences was an increase in the number of students visiting my office... many armed with "mukhtars". (Actually, as a mukhtar is the elected head of a village or neighborhood; students in reality just held letters from a mukhtar). These letters stated facts like, "This student had a family problem and was in Baghdad from date to date." "This student was ill on date. "

In Iraq, these letters function much like a letter from a notary, but... and here come the questions... WHO is this mukhtar? Is he the student's uncle, father, brother? Is he someone with whom the student's family has connections? Is it possible to bribe a mukhtar?And what weight do we have to give this piece of paper?

Luckily, this is not a real problem for me as long as students must keep track of how many classes they miss and mind that they do not exceed the permissible absences as outlined by university policy. A mukhtar doesn't come into the equation (except possibly in the case of long-term illness and a request for deferral - but even then, why not a doctor's note? And not from your uncle, the eye doctor if your problem is a gastro-intestinal disorder) as it doesn't matter whether the absence is for legitimate reasons or not... An absence is an absence and students will be marked absent accordingly. They are just advised to save those set number of absences for times when they really need it (like when they are ill or have relatives visiting from out of town and have to help their mothers prepare the dolma).