IRBID, Jordan — After years of trying to get Mohammed into a public school, his mother Alaa had almost given up. Since the family fled from Syria to Jordan in 2012, Mohammed has received no formal education. Year after year, school directors refused to sign him up for several reasons. Mohammed still doesn’t know how to read and write at 11 years old.

“In the beginning, they said they had no classroom space. Later, this changed to 'Your son is too old,' because Mohammed had been out of school for three years,” Alaa told Al-Monitor at her friend’s small apartment in the city of Irbid.

When the Jordanian government announced policy changes to allow thousands of Syrian refugee children access to education in August, Alaa was skeptical but decided to try again for this new school year. After five years of struggling, Mohammed was signed up at a public school in Irbid.

“The day after I signed him up, Mohammed jumped out of bed early in the morning to see if he could go to school that day. But his lessons haven’t started yet. They start on Sunday after the Eid holiday, so Mohammed has to wait just a little bit more. He is really excited," she said.