RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Rabii is forced to take his son to Raqqa, where his brother lives. He enrolled his son in a school in the city, where he lives with his uncle, as there are no schools in his village.
Rabii al-Hussein, 37, from the village of al-Karama, located 35km east of Raqqa, said there are no schools in his village. Schooling is not available in several nearby villages either. Illiteracy among children here is widespread.
Several villages, such as al-Tarshan, Abu Susa, Abu Ghazala, al-Dilej, and al-Farhan have suffered from years of no schooling. There are no teachers, even though classrooms are available.
Al-Hussein has a nine-year-old child. He chose to send him away to Raqqa in order to pursue his education and learn reading and writing.
“For over four years, there was no teaching in our schools, even though we have five schools in the village, of which three are regular schools, and two are modular,” he said.
He added that the al-Karama education committee sent one teacher to teach the students. “After three days, he stopped teaching for unknown reasons. Later, they sent another teacher, who also stopped working for unknown reasons after a month.”
Al-Hussein criticized the negligence of the local education committee affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
“We can restore schools and buy windows and doors, but we cannot buy teachers to teach our children,” he quips.
Muhammad al-Hamid, 42, from the village of al-Farhan, north of al-Karama, wonders, “how can some schools have more than the required teachers; meanwhile, the school in my village has none.”
The man tried to file complaints on multiple occasions, but the al-Karama education committee responded, saying, “There are not enough teachers.” Al-Hamid said, “We want someone to clarify the reasons.”
The village is home to over 500 families. All their children are at risk of illiteracy. Al-Hussein wonders why the AANES institutions concerned with education remains silent.
More distant villages have operating schools and teachers. He demands that the concerned authorities provide teachers for their village.
Al-Hamid said, “Some children grown into young adults and still do not know how to write their names.”
Mustafa al-Aloush, 38, from the village of Abu Susa, located 50km north of al-Karama, said his village and surrounding villages are completely marginalized and neglected in regards of education.
He added that there are five schools in these villages, but they are shutdown “because there are no teachers in these schools and due to the negligence of the concerned authorities.”
The presence of the schools is “merely formal.” Over 300 students have not received an education for years despite demands to the al-Karama education committee, but to no avail. They argue that “there is insufficient number of teachers in the committee.”
Reporting by Furat al-Rahil