Help the Syrian children!

September is the "back-to-school" month: lots of children and teenagers are concerned about buying the last stationery items and finishing the homework left behind during the holidays: for the most part, it's a happy moment.

Unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere: it is not the case in Syria, where the war and the deep economic and social crisis have eroded the functioning of the educational system, making school a privilege for few.

"In Syria, there are private schools, often run by religious organizations, and public schools: the public ones are free, while the private ones require a payment of about 6 million Syrian pounds per year (around 400 €). These are impossible figures for most Syrian families, even for those working in the same private schools."

Our project coordinator in Aleppo, Jean-François Thiry, explains that the compensation publich school teachers receive is so low that they have no incentive to do their job well, drastically reducing the quality of public education: "anyone attending a public school who wants to pass the final exams and graduate must necessarily attend some private lessons, which have a cost". This means that lots of families effectively have no access to education. 

Another problem is that the war and the earthquake caused significant damage to many buildings in the country, including many schools. The dramatic educational situation is compounded by the risk of attending unsafe structures lacking the necessary conditions to host and educate children in full safety.