Children in Aleppo resume learning in a safe environment
UNICEF’s integrated education support brings students back to school
Aleppo, Syria, 14 December 2022 – Years of conflict in Syria have taken a heavy toll on children’s education, leaving 2.4 million children out of school and a further 1.6 million at risk of dropping out. Recently, the country’s deepening economic crunch has made it even more difficult for families to meet their basic needs, often placing children’s education at the bottom of their caregivers’ list of priorities.
UNICEF is supporting children to continue their education through an integrated package of education services, including the light rehabilitation of conflict-damaged schools. One such example can be found in the old part of Aleppo, at Arabistan School, where rehabilitation work wrapped up before the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year. The work included the installation and maintenance of doors, classroom platforms and whiteboards, as well as floor tiles in classrooms and the schoolyard, painting of school corridors and classrooms, maintenance of windows and electrical systems, and rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities to ensure children with disabilities can use the facilities. An early childhood education room for preschoolers was equipped with furniture, and a resources room was created and equipped with furniture and learning and teaching tools. This provides children with disabilities with specialized educational sessions, catered to their needs. After sessions in these customized classrooms, taught by a trained teacher, the students rejoin their peers in the regular classrooms.
UNICEF/UN0804870/Rami Nader
UNICEF/UN0804874/Rami Nader
“The sense of tase is my favourite one! I want to be a chef when I grow up,” said Ali, while completing a jigsaw puzzle about the five senses.
Ali is doing this exercise in the resources room for children with disabilities at Arabistan School.
Aya is 11 years old, and she is Ali’s classmate.
“I love to draw, and I am getting better at it. I love drawing flowers the most because they are pretty and colorful. I also draw hearts when I want to express love to my friends.”
According to their teacher, Marwa, when Aya first joined the school, she was very shy and did not engage much with her peers. She has now settled in well and is enjoying interacting with her friends. She dreams of becoming a painter in the future.
For some students, the ‘Curriculum B’ programme at Arabistan School provided the first opportunity of learning.
“My mother can’t read, so whenever she gets a text message, she calls me right away and asks me to read it for her. I want to learn even more.”
“I used to walk in the street not being able to read any signs, but now I am able to read most of them. The first sign I was able to read was a doctor’s sign, and it was definitely an important one. It’s the kind of sign that could save lives,” said Bayan, 12.
She attends ‘Curriculum B’ learning classes at the school. The ‘Curriculum B’ programme, supported by UNICEF, is an accelerated learning programme that helps children catch up on missed education. “My mother can’t read, so whenever she gets a text message, she calls me right away and asks me to read it for her. I want to learn even more,” Bayan added.
“I went from not knowing any of the letters, to being able to spell a lot of words. I don’t want to stop learning.”
For Ibrahim, their classmate, the excitement was doubled when he progressed in both Arabic and English.
“I did not know how to write even in Arabic, but now I am also learning English.”
“Students join us being unable to read or write, so we provide them with the needed support to make up for the education they missed. A lot of students have schools in their neighborhoods, but they prefer to join our school, because they feel more comfortable here,” explained Najah, the principal of Arabistan School. “To level up education, we need to start from an early age,” she added.
The vibrant early childhood education classrooms in Arabistan are living proof that children thrive when their minds are being nourished.
UNICEF/UN0804869/Rami Nader
UNICEF/UN0804878/Rami Nader
“A lot of words start with the letter “S”, and my favorite one is sun,” said Ranim, 6, during her early childhood education class.
In 2022, UNICEF supported the light rehabilitation of 55 schools across Syria. All these interventions were possible thanks to contributions from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KFW Development Bank, Governments of Finland and Japan, the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation. These activities are also part of the UN Joint Programme to Build Urban and Rural Resilience and the Conditions for Recovery in Syria, through UNICEF, and they have been implemented with support from the European Union and the Government of Norway. UNICEF provided furniture to these rehabilitated schools with support from the Governments of Canada and Sweden.