ALEPPO, Syria — A group of civil society activists and teachers in the Idlib countryside on Sept. 25 launched Do Not Break My Pen, a campaign to draw the attention of the international community and humanitarian organizations to the importance of ongoing support for education in Idlib. They also staged a protest in front of the building of the Directorate of Education in Idlib province Sept. 28, during which they warned of the potential repercussions on the children.

The campaign is in response to the EU decision to halt support to the Directorate of Education in armed opposition-held Idlib province, in northwestern Syria. Syria Call reported on Sept. 18 that an EU spokesperson had told the Italian Aki Agency that the decision was made in light of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, controlling wide stretches of territory in the northwest.

There was no official statement from the EU on the suspension of aid, which the EU provides and disburses through Chemonics, a for-profit development agency, through the Manahel Syria Educational Programme, which is co-sponsored by the EU and the UK Department for International Development. 

According to an anonymous source at the Idlib Directorate of Education, the directorate received a letter in mid-September from Chemonics that noted the increased risks of working in Idlib in the past year, in particular the emergence of the HTS Salvation Government and its interference in and attempts to control education. Given the current situation, the donors decided to end the partnership with the Directorate of Education in Idlib, specifically Manahel.