Overcrowded schools hinder educational process in Syria’s Raqqa
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Overcrowded classrooms hinder educational process as there are about 70 students in each classroom, Raqqa Civil Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on Sunday.
The overcrowding is a result of lack of schools and increase in the students and expats’ numbers, forcing the schools managements to divide the students into two shifts, said Khalaf al-Matar, co-chair of the AANES Education Committee in Raqqa.
On September 18, the new academic year in the AANES-held areas started after a week of administrative work.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
Al-Matar added that they are about to re-build completely destroyed schools, including al-Rashid/Elementary, al-Rashid/High school, al-Batani and al-Sebahiya.
He pointed out that they rehabilitated this year the schools of Hetteen and Mousa Bin al-Nasir, in Raqqa, to contain the number of students and solve the problem of overcrowding.
On September 5, the other co-chair of the Education Board, Rajab al-Mushrif, told North Press that there are 4.700 schools affiliated with the Education Board distributed in the areas run by the AANES, the number of students studying at these schools is 860.000 and 42.000 teachers operate.
Increasing the students’ numbers is a result of increasing expats in Raqqa, al-Matar added.
Several schools in Raqqa were damaged during the expulsion of Islamic State Organization (ISIS) at the hands of Syrian Democratic forces (SDF), as 80% of the city was destroyed, according to media outlet.
The committee opened 367 schools in Raqqa and its countryside, as the total number of schools in Raqqa is 524 schools, including 27 completely destroyed ones in the city, 31 ones in the countryside and 122 others that need to be rehabilitated, al-Matar added.