The preparations to welcome the school’s new year – Kobani

The Education Board in the Euphrates region (an administrative division comprising Kobani, Eyn Issa, Serrin and Tal Abyad) is preparing to start the new school year next week. Parents are buying their children’s school supplies amid financial difficulties, because of the high prices of stationery as a result of the high dollar exchange rate.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has set September 15th as the first day of the 2019-2020 school year.  

Concerning the burdens of the parents to provide school supplies for their children, Nabo Muhammad Bairam, a resident of the city of Kobani, told North-Press that despite the joy of children and students about the opening of schools, the material burdens borne by the parents, are increasing day by day, explaining that, each child needs school supplies and stationery which costs about SYP 6,000 (about $10) because of the high dollar exchange rate, especially as the school season coincides with winter supplies. 

Bairam called for school uniforms, which in his opinion is a problem in the Autonomous Administration schools, since uniforms lead to equality between the rich and the poor, and lack of uniformity places additional burdens on parents who cannot always buy different clothes for their children. 

In turn, the official at “Martyr Sarhad” primary school, Adlah Saydi, said that the administrative work began with the beginning of this month, where administrators and teachers have prepared classes, cleaned and arranged books, to receive students for the school new year. She explained that children born in 01/06/2014 and before can be registered in the first grade. 

Adnan Hesou, spokesperson of the General Administration of Schools in Kobani, said that their administration is currently preparing for assigning teachers in the city’s schools and in three rural centers, which are al-Qanaya, Serrin and al-Jalabiya towns, pointing out that the priority in assigning teachers is for those who have passed the summer courses with good grades, where they will be assigned in the same previous school, while the requests for transfer, especially for female teachers will be discussed a week after the start of the academic year. 

The number of teachers who have passed the summer training courses in Kobani is 2,493 teachers, who will be assigned in 525 schools in the city and its countryside, while about 150 teachers who haven’t passed the summer training course will undergo another training course and won’t be assigned in the schools for the current year.

Hesou added that the schools administration will assign the new graduates from the educational institutes in vacant places and closed schools, which will be opened in the countryside. 

The co-head of the Education Board of the Euphrates region, Abdul Razzaq Ali Muhammad said that they expect to increase the number of students by about 20,000 students from last year, most of them are new students from the first grade, as well as students from other regions, pointing out that, the number of the students in the Euphrates region, has reached 89,620 students last year.  

Muhammad added that the Board is working to open 25 other schools, which were closed in the countryside because of the lack of students or because of the lack of preparations during the current academic year. 

Mohammed confirmed that the Board will start a project to build a typical school next week which can accommodate about 1,500 students in Botan Sharqi neighborhood in eastern Kobani, which lacks a school, despite being one of the largest neighborhoods in the city to be ready to receive students during the next academic year. 

Regarding the status of textbooks, Muhammad stated that, the books are printed in one printing press in the north and east of Syria, which causes delay of the arrival of the books to the region, pointing out that about 280,000 books for all stages have reached to the Board, while the Board needs more than 500,000 books to cover all the needs of the students.

Concerning the students and teachers coming from the area of Shahba, of the city of Afrin, Muhammad said that the new students are being assigned in schools just like students of the city of Kobani, while the teachers are being assigned in the schools according to their specialties.  

It is noteworthy that the number of the students in the Euphrates region has reached 89,620 students in all educational levels last year, including 38,443 students in Tal Abyad and 51,178 students in Kobani, while the number of the teachers who are currently being assigned, is 4,248, including 1,900 teachers in Tal Abyad and 2,348 in Kobani. The number of the schools in the region is 836, including 311 in Tal Abyad and 525 in Kobani.