Turkish bombardment deprives students of education in Syria’s Tel Tamr
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, an official at the educational complex in the town of Tel Tamr, north of Hasakah, northeast Syria, said that they are facing great difficulties in the educational process as a result of the transformation of many of the region’s schools into shelters for the IDPs fleeing the war, which deprive thousands of students of education.
Bahiya Ma’amo, an official at the educational complex in Tel Tamr, told North Press that they are well aware of the extent of the disaster that befell the residents after their displacement from their homes, but that their presence at schools as shelters is not a solution.
The attack of the Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition factions on the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in late 2019, caused the displacement of tens of thousands of residents from their homes and heading towards the camps, while the Autonomous Administration opened dozens of schools to house them as an emergency case.
However, after nearly two years of displacement, thousands of displaced people are still homeless in the Tel Tamr area, as a result of the overcrowding of the camps in Hasakah.
“During the last academic year, we tried to take advantage of some of the empty classrooms in the schools where the displaced people live, by giving lessons, but the teachers faced great difficulties, some of which represented in the students’ inability to understand the lessons,” Ma’amo added.
She stated that 15 schools in the Tel Tamr are inhabited by displaced people.
On July 28, the school of the village of al-Kozaliya, west of the town, was almost completely destroyed, and the Turkish bombing of the area destroyed many schools located on the frontlines in Tel Tamr countryside, after they were targeted by artillery shells.
Ma’amo indicated that thousands of students are currently deprived of education, because dozens of schools are closed due to the war conditions in the region, in addition to the presence of a huge number of IDPs within the schools.
“In case the schools are emptied of the IDPs in the light of securing another shelter for them, the displaced students will also benefit from teaching and those who have dropped out of school since they left their villages,” she stressed.
Ma’amo called on local councils to cooperate with them in emptying schools, especially with the start of the new academic year approaching.
It is expected that the Education Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria will start the new academic year at the beginning of September.