Children return to school in Aleppo, supported by UNICEF
Over 1280 schools in Aleppo and its suburbs welcomed 485,000 students for a new school year, 35 schools opened their doors for the first time in seven years.
This week, over 1280 schools in Aleppo and its suburbs welcomed 485,000 determined boys and girls for a new school year.
Of these, 35 schools opened their doors for the first time, with support from UNICEF. The seven-year long conflict has restricted access to education opportunities for countless children. Thanks to generous contributions from Germany, Educate A Child, ECHO, Norway, Canada, Japan, Argentina, Finland, Luxembourg, DFID and Education Cannot Wait, UNICEF has reached over 2 million school-aged children and youth, teachers and education personnel across Syria with much needed support.
Back in Fo’ah, I only had a red pen to write my homework, now I have a full pencil case,
I felt safe walking to school today for the first time in a very long time,
Since the beginning of 2018, UNICEF rehabilitated 122 schools across the country, including 43 in Aleppo and its suburbs. Rehabilitation works continue in an additional 123 schools to allow more children to return to learning. UNICEF also installed over 141 pre-fabricated classrooms to ensure a comfortable learning environment and trained 28,000 teachers on the new national curriculum. Over 1 million children received learning materials, while over 172,000 school bags with stationery were distributed.
I love my new bag because it matches my dress! It’s also my favorite color,
Finally, to help out-of-school children catch up with their peers, UNICEF also rolled out the Curriculum b programme, allowing children who have missed out on years of education to catch up with their peers by combining two school years in one, and the self-learning programme, allowing children with no physical access to school to study at home or in community centres with the help of caregivers of volunteers.
My mother walked me to school today to make sure I don’t get lost!
I always like to skim through the textbooks to know what we will learn about throughout the year!