ALEPPO, Syria — The Syrian war has taken its toll on the education sector in Syria, specifically in the areas under opposition control, and schools have lost many teachers. Some opted for immigration due to the tough security situation, others were displaced to safer areas in Syria, and many changed jobs and quit teaching. Some teachers were killed in the raids of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that deliberately targeted schools, like the shelling that targeted Saad Ansari School and Al-Rajaa kindergarten in Aleppo on April 15, 2015, in addition to the Russian air raids that targeted schools. Others could not teach due to the Islamic State’s control.
The education sector in the opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo and its countryside has been the most affected. The war has led to the collapse of the educational sector in all Syrian regions under the opposition, and one of the main problems has been the lack of staff, thus prompting the search for a solution to save education and reintegrate children into schools.
The severe shortage of teachers has led to the emergence of teacher training institutes in several areas under the control of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) during the last quarter of 2014 in Marea, Azaz, Tell Rifaat and Anadan in Aleppo’s northern countryside; in Atarib and Darat Izza in Aleppo’s western countryside; and in Zerbeh and Tal al-Daman in Aleppo’s southern countryside. The aim of such initiatives is to equip elementary and secondary schools with specialized teachers in Arabic, English, mathematics and science, and classroom teachers for grades 1-4.
The Marea Teacher Training Institute — established by the education bureau affiliated with the local council in Marea on Sept. 3, 2014, in Marea city, which is under the FSA’s control in Aleppo’s northern countryside — is a successful model. It offered the city the first group of graduates in several disciplines (English, Arabic and classroom teaching), and the opposition has started to reap the fruits of this training center as the schools now have enough teachers. On Aug. 1, 2016, 35 students graduated, and they started teaching at the start of the 2016-17 school year.
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