Eleven years of conflict have severely threatened access to education. We renovated two schools and distributed school supplies, in collaboration with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS)
After years of uninterrupted crisis, the education system in Syria has been severely affected: many schools have been damaged, and many have been closed and converted back to military bases or refugee centres. In these past eleven years, Syrian girls and boys have been deprived of access to education and safe places to socialise. It’s a generation marked by a lack of recreational spaces, interaction with others, relationships, and educational activities. It’s a trauma that has been added to the suffering and losses of millions of families.
Since mid-2021, with the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and in partnership with the NGO TGH (Triangle), INTERSOS has launched a psycho-social assistance and education project in the Hama governorate. Here, two schools have been chosen for rehabilitation: the Abdullah Nabhan school in Suran and the Al Ramlyeh C1 school.
Renovation work was completed in February 2022 and included repairing structural damage (one of the school’s classrooms and a toilet had been hit by missiles), repainting walls, installing doors and windows, creating gender-separated bathrooms also accessible to people with disabilities, and providing solar panels to ensure continuous clean energy. INTERSOS also encouraged the active participation of parents and teachers through initiatives involving the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Tools and materials were also made available to repair damaged desks, and stair railings and fabrics were provided for creating and installing window curtains.
Thanks to this project, 2,400 boys and girls have received backpacks and stationery and they can finally learn in a safe and dignified environment. Moreover, in recent months, our staff has distributed 1,125 additional personal hygiene kits to students from the most damaged areas of the country. Recreational activities such as marionette shows were also organised within the schools through which educational messages were conveyed about the proper behavior to have within the school and with classmates, messages about bullying, proper hygiene practices, and manual and musical activities.