Parents torn between government, Autonomous Administration schools in Syria’s Hasakah
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The management of the Education Directorate of the Autonomous Administration in Hasakah city, Syria, is working hard this week in order to deliver the necessities for the new academic year. Meanwhile, parents are torn over whether to send their children to Autonomous Administration schools or those of the Syrian government.
There are about 1,025 elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools, which educate about 150,000 students, in Hasakah.
The new academic year was accompanied by an increasing number of coronavirus cases, and fears that schools would not be able to implement the precautionary measures that were taken by both the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian government.
The Education Directorate of the Auontomous Administration (AANES) delayed the opening of schools until October 4 after the outbreak of coronavirus in northeast Syria, while government schools opened their doors on Sunday.
New copies of books were distributed to schools, because the new books encouraged students, especially the elementary-level ones, to study, said Jindar Hami, co-chair of the AANES Schools’ Management in Hasakah.
Teachers were trained on the new courses in both the Arabic and Kurdish languages, Hami said.
Parents of students in Hasakah and its countryside complained about the deteriorating education that their children receive in schools in general.
Alan Sido, a resident of Hasakah, criticized both the Syrian government and Autonomous Administration schools regarding the education departments and the level of teaching in both schools.
The father preferred to send his children to the Autonomous Administration’s schools, because they teach in his mother tongue – Kurdish.
“The Administration’s schools are clean; they take care of students, and with a small number of students in the class, in contrast to Syrian government schools that lack the minimum requirements of cleanliness and organization,” he said.
“For my child’s academic future, it will be like the other 3,000,000 children in Syria who have had their future affected; the most important thing is to maintain their health,” Sido stated.
The Autonomous Administration Health Board recorded 58 new coronavirus infections in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, including 19 in Hasakah, bringing the total number to 1,209.
The number of students in each class in the government schools in Hasakah reached about 90, with five students sitting in each desk, according to the students’ parents.
Shamsa Osman, a resident of Hasakah, said that she would send her son to the government schools, because the Autonomous Administration’s certificates are considered illegitimate.
Some parents, who are not satisfied with the courses offered by the government schools, fear the impact of any changes on the future of their children.
Earlier, education was discussed, with the Syrian government insisting on teaching its whole curriculum, according to Hami.
The Autonomous Administration rejected this, believing that each community has the right to study and teach its children in their mother tongue and according to their culture, Hami added.