The Syrian crisis caused the collapse of cities in social, political, religious, economic and many other fields. A great social crisis has been experienced stemming from large immigration waves and mercenary attacks. The Autonomous Administrations established in liberated cities have been instrumental in the rebuilding of cities and all kinds of social services that were interrupted.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria ensured the continuation of educational activities that were at a standstill in the region. 789,225 students receive education in 4,317 schools in Northern and Eastern Syria. Despite the limited resources of the Education Committee, learning activities continue without interruption. The Education Committee activities gets credit in Deir ez-Zor, which was finally freed from ISIS. The Deir ez-Zor Education Committee, which was established on 24 September 2017, maintained the democratic education model in every part of the city.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE CITY

Deir ez-Zor Civil Council Education and Training Committee co-chair Kemal Musa told ANHA: “We quickly delivered our education system to every liberated district and town of Deir ez-Zor. Establishing the education system was not an easy task. We have tried to provide educational services in a war-torn city. We started the first academic year in 2017. We served 12,000 students in 55 schools. In 2018, we made a big breakthrough, increasing the number of schools to 320. The number of students also increased to 105,000”.

Kemal Musa continued as follows: “Our committee continues its activities in spite of its limited means to provide educational services to all students. 7,993 teachers were appointed after various formation training for students to receive education.

VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTING EDUCATION

Casim Hero, co-head of Susê Town Education Association, located in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, said: “Many people volunteered to continue the educational activities. Many people applied to the Deir ez-Zor Civil Council and helped to repair the schools”.

PARENTS WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO RECEIVE EDUCATION

The only wish of parents who send their children to schools is to fight against ignorance. Speaking about the educational activities, the parents held that the war is due to ignorance and therefore they want their children to receive education.

Muammer Hüseyin, a parent of primary school students, said: “The main reason I send my children to school is to make them get rid of ignorance. War stems from ignorance. That's why I want my children to receive education.”

“I am sending my children to school because I want them to be enlightened and conscious people,” said another parent Rim Mubarak.

According to the information provided by Kemal Musa, the Deir ez-Zor Education and Training Committee made an investment of approximately 200 thousand dollars this year to maintain educational services.

'THERE ARE OBSTACLES'

There are also various obstacles to educational activities which continue with great efforts. There are 96 schools in the region that are not yet operational. Most of these schools are completely destroyed. Some schools need extra time to start repair work.

According to Kemal Musa, the Deir ez-Zor Civil Council is scheduled to allocate 5 million 274 thousand dollars to the Education and Training Committee this year.