SURGING conflict and political upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa are preventing more than 13 million children from going to school, according to a UNICEF report released on Thursday.
The report, ‘Education Under Fire’ focuses on the impact of violence on schoolchildren and education systems in nine countries that have been directly or indirectly impacted by violence. Attacks on schools and education infrastructure, sometimes deliberate, are one key reason why many children do not attend classes.
In Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya alone, nearly 9,000 schools are out of use because they have been damaged, destroyed, are being used to shelter displaced civilians or have been taken over by parties to the conflict. More schools have been destroyed in Gaza.
Other factors include the fear that drives thousands of teachers to abandon their posts, or keeps parents from sending their children to school because of what might happen to them along the way – or at school itself. In Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, more than 700,000 Syrian refugee children are unable to attend school because the overburdened national education infrastructure cannot cope with the extra student load.
‘The destructive impact of conflict is being felt by children right across the region,’ said Peter Salama, Regional Director for UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa. ‘It’s not just the physical damage being done to schools, but the despair felt by a generation of schoolchildren who see their hopes and futures shattered.’ The report calls on the international community, host governments, policy makers, the private sector and other partners to:
• Reduce the number of children out of school through the expansion of informal education services especially for vulnerable children
• Provide more support to national education systems in conflict-hit countries and host communities to expand learning spaces, recruit and train teachers and provide learning materials
• In countries affected by the Syria crisis, advocate for the recognition and certification of non-formal education services.
The report says: ‘In Syria, the Gaza Strip, Iraq, Libya, Sudan or Yemen, millions of children experience conflict in different ways, leaving indelible scars whether physical or psychological. Simply going to school for many children is fraught with danger. Being in school can be a death sentence. In 2014 alone, there were 214 attacks on schools in the region.
‘Conflicts across the Middle East and North Africa have reached new levels of destructiveness and horror. The killing, abduction and arbitrary arrest of students, teachers and education personnel have become commonplace. In Yemen recently, 13 educators and four of their children were reportedly killed in a single attack on a teachers’ office in Amran.
‘Education facilities have been occupied and used as bases or detention centres by armed groups and forces. As conflict drives more families towards destitution, children are increasingly exploited, forced to leave school and take up jobs often in poor conditions and for minimal wages. Girls as young as 13 are being pushed towards marriage to relieve economic strains on their families.
‘In Syria, the failure to resolve an increasingly brutal conflict is threatening an entire generation of children, and the education system is paying a massive price. One in four schools cannot be used because they have been damaged, destroyed, or are being used as shelters for the internally displaced or for military purposes.
‘The lack of safe learning environments coupled with a number of other factors (unsafe routes to and from school, discrimination, insecurity, displacement, shortages of teachers and supplies) have meant that more than two million children are out of school and 446,000 are at a risk of dropping out. In the reality of Syria today, at least 20% of children have to cross active lines of conflict just to take their examinations.
‘Educators and their parents go to great lengths to have the education of their children endorsed. Some report taking a perilous journey, passing through countless checkpoints manned by armed fighters. In neighbouring countries where Syrian children have sought refuge, more than 700,000 children are not in school, especially in Turkey and Lebanon. Schools receiving Syrian children are overcrowded and under-resourced. In some cases schools are far and parents are not able to pay for the transportation.
‘Syrian refugee children struggle to adapt to the host country curriculum and to the local language and dialect. 2014 was the deadliest year for Iraq since 2008. Nearly 700 children were killed and another 500 injured. The displacement of over three million Iraqis has put huge strain on an already inadequate education infrastructure. At least 950,000 school children are affected.
‘Last year, around 1,200 schools in host communities have been taken over as collective shelters. Up to nine families shared each classroom, hanging laundry in the hallways, preparing meals in the courtyard, and sleeping where students once studied. This delayed the start of the last school year. In times of conflict, the role of teachers, guiding, inspiring and encouraging the children in their charge, takes on a very different dimension, requiring added dedication and even physical courage.
‘As violence has swept across much of the Middle East, the teaching profession has found itself in the firing line time and again. Teachers have been detained or intimidated, injured and sometimes killed. It is no surprise then that many have abandoned their jobs and fled for their lives. Syria’s teachers have paid a particularly heavy price. Since the beginning of the crisis, almost one quarter of the country’s teaching personnel – some 52,500 teachers and 523 school counsellors have left their posts. Even those Syrian teachers who have ended up as refugees in other countries have faced other obstacles which prevent them from working.
‘Teachers in Iraq tell their own stories of loss and survival. In the northern city of Mosul, school principal Eman Farag lost three of her brothers to violence as well as her family home. In June 2014, she fled to Kirkuk where she now runs a school for 900 displaced children. Meanwhile, there are other challenges specific to each country. In Yemen, some teachers lack the qualifications necessary to lead classrooms and, as long as the country remains unstable, the education sector will continue to be affected. In the Gaza Strip, overcrowded classrooms and overwhelming workloads exacerbate teaching stress while the lack of educational facilities puts greater burden on the teachers.’
In its concluding remarks, the report says: ‘As the violence gripping Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya continues to deepen, and with no end in sight to other, more enduring conflicts in Palestine and Sudan, there is every reason to fear that the huge number of children already out of school across the region will continue to grow.
‘With more than 13 million children already driven from classrooms by conflict, it is no exaggeration to say that the educational prospects of a generation of children are in the balance. The forces that are crushing individual lives and futures are also destroying the prospects for an entire region.
‘Young minds distorted by hatred and fear will need extraordinary support to contribute fully to the development of societies built on social progress, tolerance and prosperity.
‘Across the region, children demand above all else to go back to school. They dream of a better future for themselves and their families, and of the day when they can help rebuild their shattered communities and nations. These are the future teachers, nurses, doctors, architects, musicians, scientists and technicians of Syria, Iraq, the State of Palestine, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.
‘Like children anywhere, they want an opportunity to learn, and acquire the skills they need to fulfil their potential. Among them are the future leaders of these conflict-hit countries. These children are laying down a challenge to the international community, host governments, policy makers, and all those who want to see the Middle East and North Africa emerge from the current turmoil.’
