Aleppo: An Underground Education

The Syrian education system is in dire straits as a fresh onslaught of bombing has, yet again, delayed the state of the school year.

While the young minds of Aleppo remain eager to learn, the reality is that their days are more likely to be spent being pulled from rubble than sitting at a school desk. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Justin Forsyth, has describe the situation as a total disregard for human life:

“The children of Aleppo are trapped in a living nightmare…There are no words left to describe the suffering they are experiencing”.

The recent bombings have taken the lives of 96 children and destroyed most of the public buildings. Currently, one out of four school buildings are unable to be used for education, either due to bombing or because they are being used as emergency shelters.

Only half of the 100 000 remaining children still attend school (when it is open). Being continually targeted by regime bombs, means that schools, even when they are open, are danger zones.

Many schools have moved underground to reassure parents of their childrens safety. However, according to Nick Finnet, Save the Children’s country director for northwestern Syria, says that “the use of bunker bombs – which can explode several meters underground – have threatened the safety of these subterranean schools”.

Thirteen-year-old, Jalal al-Basot, has been out of school for two years, and  wants nothing more than to have access to education:

“In my last year at school I had the highest grades. I don’t want to waste my time in the house doing nothing, and I can’t even play in the street because of the random raids all over the city”.

Hussein Alhamood, Save the Children’s education coordinator for northwestern Syria, said, “If children do not resume their studies soon, they will lose out of education…We are losing the hope of rebuilding the country.”