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in the south idlib Residents of a rural area that was once the front line of the Syrian civil war are returning to their villages after years of exile.
Repairing and reopening damaged and looted schools is key to the return of displaced people, but nearly a year after former President bashar asad Hundreds of schools are still destroyed, having been overrun in a rebel attack.
Millions of children in Syria are out of school, while others are attending classes in burnt-out buildings without basic supplies.
a school building with no windows or chairs
Safiya al-Zurouk and her family fled the town of Mar Sharmin five years ago when Assad’s forces seized control of the area from opposition forces.
Following the fall of Assad last December, the family returned home and are now living in a tent next to the remains of their destroyed home – the same one they stayed in while they were displaced.
The local elementary school reopened last month, and Al-Zurouk is sending her three children, in third, fourth and fifth grades, to classes there.
The L-shaped school building is in disrepair, its walls riddled with bullet holes and its paint peeling off in long stripes of brown and blue.
Inside the classrooms, sunlight diffuses through open window frames separated by glass. Students sit cross-legged on thin blankets spread on the cold floor, their backs against the wall for support. A young girl explores her notebook, balancing it on her knees Arabic Alphabet.
“If it rains, it will affect my children,” al-Zurouk said through the broken windows. There is not even water in the school.
The school principal, Abdullah Hallaq, said almost everything in the building had been destroyed – desks, windows, doors and even steel reinforcements had been stripped from the building – looted after residents fled, like many other towns in southern Idlib.
“We have kids coming here with no seats, no boards, no windows and as you know, winter is coming,” Hallak told The Associated Press. “Some parents call us to complain that their children are getting sick from sitting on the floor, so they have left their school.”
A massive effort is needed to rebuild schools.
According to Deputy Education Minister Joseph Annan, 40% of schools have been destroyed across Syria, most of them in rural Idlib and HamaWhich was the site of fierce fighting during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.
In Idlib alone, 350 schools are out of service, he said, and only 10% have been rehabilitated so far.
“Many schools were evacuated, with iron stolen from roofs and structures, requiring years and significant money to rebuild,” he said.
Annan said the new school year officially began in mid-September, as well as an emergency education plan to accommodate the increasing number of returning students, adding that the ministry intends to launch a distance learning program to increase access to education, although this “requires more time” and has not yet been implemented.
Throughout Syria, Annan said, 4 million students are currently enrolled in school, while about 2.5 to 3 million children are out of school, according to Meritxile Rellano Arana. UNICEF Representative in Syria.
“Many children in Syria have difficulty accessing education. Many schools have been destroyed, many teachers have not returned to teach and many children do not even have money to buy school materials,” he said.
This is the case with Al-Zurouk’s family.
He further added, “My eldest daughter is very smart and loves studying, but we cannot buy books.” He said the children help pick olives after school because the family makes a living from olive oil production.
students are falling behind
Hallak said Mar Shamarin Elementary now houses about 450 students in first through fourth grades, but demand continues to grow.
“We have more students applying, but no space,” he said.
Teacher Bayan al-Ibrahim said many of the children participating have fallen behind academically after years of displacement.
“Some families were displaced to areas where education was not supported or their circumstances did not allow them to continue their children’s education,” he said.
A lack of seating space and school supplies makes it difficult for teachers to maintain order, she said, while parents struggle to stay involved.
“There are no books, so parents don’t know what their children are reading,” he said.
Rellano said UNICEF is working on rebuilding schools, providing temporary classrooms and training teachers to ensure they have the equipment needed for quality education.
He said this work is especially important as hundreds of thousands of refugees are returning from abroad. According to the UN refugee agency, more than one million refugees have returned to Syria.
Beyond infrastructure, Rellano said schools play a vital role in the psychological improvement of the country.
“Many children are traumatized by years of conflict, so they need to return to safe schools where psychosocial support is available,” he said.