After the 1915-1918 tragic displacement of the Assyrians living within the realm of the Ottoman Empire, they did not only become homeless and statusless; indeed, they lost their few formal institutions which promoted literacy skills (reading & writing) in their native language– Aramaic. The Assyrians were dispersed as refugees all over the Middle East practicing their Aramaic language orally with minimum literacy interactions. The tragedy to which they were exposed and the bitter taste of losing a homeland gave birth to a strong sense of nationalism and national identity the latter of which inspired some of their literate and conscientious leaders to innovate in reintroducing literacy in Aramaic. Foremost among such innovations was the introduction of the concept of home school which designates in-house instruction run by one instructor (R?bi) who tutored young learners individually or in small groups in return for nominal fees. For instance, there emerged scores of such ‘home schools’ throughout Iraq. These home schools, in turn, led to the emergence of a tradition within the family that its literate member had the social responsibility of instructing the rest of the family members. In the long run, and in the absence of formal schools, this home-based instruction constituted an important resource for the maintenance of Aramaic as a live language. Naturally, these home-schools emerged in areas of highest population concentration of Aramaic-speakers in Iraq such as Kirkuk, Habbaniyah, Doura, Nineveh plain etc…Without the emergence of home schools in population concentration areas the chances of Aramaic survival would have been very slim. Home schools promoted literacy skills (reading & writing) while population concentration activated the daily oral skills (listening & speaking) both of which collaborated in keeping Aramaic in active circulation until the establishment of all-Aramaic cross-curriculum formal schools in the North of Iraq in 1993 which are now exclusively responsible for the maintenance of literacy in Aramaic among the Assyrians in Iraq.