#FuturesUnderFire: Syria’s Battle for Education
Published: Nov 15, 2016 Reading time: 4 minutes
In Syria today, one in every three schools across the country has been damaged, destroyed, taken over as shelter, or used for military purposes. This year alone, at least 45 attacks against education have already been documented by NGOs and education actors working in Syria. That amounts to an attack against education every seven days. Though, the actual number is predicted to be considerably higher.
Attacks on education can take many forms, from the bombardment of school buildings and educational infrastructure, to the overrunning or closing down of schools, even targeted killings, abductions, arrests or threats against teachers and students.
Beyond the attacks, many other factors also affect access to education for children, including: the insufficient capacity of schools and teaching staff; the hidden costs of education and increase in child labour; and, in besieged areas such as east Aleppo city, also the lack of food.
Today, there are an estimated 5.4 million children in Syria. They are surrounded by war, displacement, death and worsening economic hardship. Approximately 2 million of these children are not in school and a further million at risk of dropping out. That would mean more than half of all Syrian children losing the opportunity to learn.
The education of every Syrian child is affected. For those still with a school to go to, the security situation often prevents them from attending regularly and consistently. The majority must attend in shifts to try to accommodate displaced students and those whose schools are out of action. Classes are shorter and teachers are working back-to-back shifts, often without pay.
Without regular access to education, there will effectively be a lost generation. That loss is happening right now and the lost generation is the current one; our generation.
On 26th October, a school complex in Idlib was attacked by a series of airstrikes which resulted in the death of 35 people, mostly children and teachers, as well as the destruction of the classrooms. This event has been described as the worst attack on a school since the start of the war five and a half years ago.
The violence continues weekly, even daily. On 2nd November, a vocational training school in Idlib was also hit in an airstrike and rendered out of action. On the 6th November, two more schools in Aleppo countryside and Idlib were again impacted by airstrikes and schools across these governorates are now closed due to the heightened security situation. On the 7th of November, six children were killed as shelling hit a nursery school in Harasta, Eastern Ghouta. On 13th November, yet another school, this one in Atareb, west Aleppo countryside, was hit in an airstrike. The school building was completely destroyed. 580 children of Atareb no longer have a school to return to. The damage and destruction continues.
Children are being robbed of their education and their childhood. Their futures are under fire.
Such violations against children and education are occurring throughout the country and are committed by all parties to the conflict. The impacts of such violations are far-reaching, affecting not only the education of Syria’s children, but also their well-being, social and psychological development, and consequently, Syria’s future capacity for recovery.
Attacks on education prevent realisation of the fundamental right of children to education; a right enshrined in key international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The children of Syria have suffered too much; and their suffering continues.
It is time to stop. Stop the Suffering; Stop the Bombs.
Here is a short film by Sima, a young girl who attends a school supported by People in Need in Idlib, Syria. Her mother, a psycho-social support teacher in her school, is filming her on a camera phone.
As you will see from the video, Sima is one of the lucky ones in Syria today. She is receiving an education that 2 million Syrian children are not. Many schools look nothing like hers, many without whiteboards, playgrounds and even desks.
Initially, with this film we set out to show a day in the life of a school child in Syria. While she was filming, the horrific attack on Haas schools took place 80km away. Sima's school life changed that day and therefore so did this film. This film contains some harrowing footage from Haas.
This is the story of just one child, but attacks against children and education occur throughout the country and are committed by all parties to the conflict.
What we want to stress with this video is that though the number of attacks on schools in Syria continues to rise, the deaths of children and teachers should not be counted and presented as statistics alone.
The children and teachers of Syria are humans not numbers. When you hear about an attack on a school in Syria, we want to ask you to think of Sima. Remember what Sima tells you in this video. Remember her hopes, her fears and her love for school.
These are real people, in real schools with very real fears.
