DAMASCUS: Syria’s deteriorating economic condition has forced parents to stop sending their children to schools due to poverty.
The poor parents have to miss schools of their children this year and to send their kids to work for livelihood.
Normally schools in government-held areas of Syria reopened in September after the summer vocations, welcoming back about 3.7 million children. This year many children did not show up this year at the schools because of the financial problems.
The poor children missing schools this year have to become laborers to earn money and to support their families. Syria is currently grappling with a devastating and unprecedented economic crisis.
Civil society groups have designed different projects to help vulnerable students continue their studies and prevent children from being deprived of their right to education.
Mart Team, a charity in Damascus, has started a campaign called “Aqlamouna Amalouna” to support struggling primary school students.
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Marwan Alrez, the general manager of Mart Team, told media that high costs of stationery and educational supplies is a major factor for the children not going to schools.
She said that parents could not afford hefty fees and charges, prompting many of them to remove their children from school and force them into the labor market.
Donya Abo Alzahab, a school teacher said that the teachers sometimes have to spend a portion of their own salaries on essential teaching aids, including textbooks, which are quite expensive to help the poor children.
Alrez expressing her views said average cost of educational supplies for a single primary school student is at least 200,000 Syrian pounds (approximately $16).
She added that such expensive items are almost out of the reach of many public-sector employees, whose minimum monthly salaries were only recently increased to 185,940 Syrian pounds.
