The civil war in Syria has had devasting affects on children’s education in Syria. In my blog post, I am going to talk about the challenges faced by Syrian children in accessing quality education due to the conflict. Firstly, millions of Syrian children have been forced to leave the country and have also been displaced, resulting in them, not going to school, which has hindered them from getting the quality education they need. Their education is halted, and they don’t get the quality education they deserve. Furthermore, the conflict has resulted in the destruction of the infrastructure of schools; every school has been destroyed or looted because of the conflict, resulting in children not being able to go to school and get an education because they have nowhere to sit down or study in peace. Many schools in Syria have been destroyed because of the civil war.
In Syria, air strikes attacked the schools and destroyed them. The teachers also had to leave the schools, as did the children. This shows that because of the regular attacks on schools, schools were severely damaged, which affected the education of these Syrian children. Furthermore, across Syria, at least 3,465 schools have been destroyed or damaged, and many have been occupied for military purposes. This again shows us how the conflict has hindered the quality education of Syrian children.
Not only this, but schools are being increasingly forced to close because of the conflict. From an almost 100% enrollment rate, Syria has now become the second worst rate of school attendance in the world, with 2.8 million children out of school. Up to half of the children surveyed by the agency in Syria reported they were 'rarely' or 'never' able to concentrate in class. All of this shows us that children in Syria have faced severe consequences because of the conflict, and this has affected their education in many ways. Children are not able to concentrate in class at all because they fear they will witness another bombing soon enough. Parents don’t send their children to school either because of this fear, which has resulted in the enrollment rate decreasing dramatically.
Further, the conflict has had a negative impact on children's mental health too, which has affected their studies. Even if they go to schools in Syria, they are in constant fear of being attacked. They are not able to study this way. And in fact, how can they even study and get quality education when a civil war is going on in a country?
Conflict overall has a devastating affect on children and their education, not only in Syria but in many other countries, children are not able to get the education they deserve. What's happening in Gaza now is also devasting to see; children are dying, and they are also not being able to go to school and get the education they deserve.
Please do comment on my blog, and ask me any questions you guys have; your thoughts will be appreciated.
Citations:
Futures under threat: The impact of the education crisis on Syria’s children - syrian arab republic. ReliefWeb. (2014, September 19). https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/futures-under-threat-impact-education-crisis-syria-s-children?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6byqBhAWEiwAnGCA4H724Q0j9Ix5tjOR2ZzMP5V7s3bytknjs0Iwq_Uy5iQmh4tzwAspoBoCCkQQAvD_BwE
Thank you for sharing this Naimol. If we look at this from a social reproduction theory point of view, "structural inequalities", exacerbated by the conflict, have limited access to quality education. The conflict has resulted in mass displacement, leading to "changes in social structures". Displaced populations, often face economic hardships and struggle to provide consistent education for their children. The destruction of schools, loss of educational materials, and the displacement of teachers and students "disrupt the accumulation of cultural capital". Despite challenges, there are instances of "counter-hegemonic practices" where educators, students, and communities resist the dominant narratives imposed by conflict. Once the analysis is done, policymakers need to address the situation in light of this. The way forward will then…
Totally agree to your point Naimol.; The portrayal of the challenges faced by Syrian children in accessing education due to the ongoing conflict is deeply troubling and demands urgent attention. The systematic disruption of their learning environment, be it through displacement, the destruction of school infrastructure, or the constant threat of air strikes, underscores the magnitude of the crisis. The staggering statistics, such as the destruction of thousands of schools and the plummeting enrollment rates, highlight the dire consequences on the education system. The mention of children reporting difficulty concentrating in class due to the fear of attacks raises a critical question: How can we expect these young minds to flourish academically when the very act of attending school becomes…