The education office of the local council in the town of Kafarzeita in northern rural Hama on Friday said that it was suspending schools in the town in the next two days because of the intensified shelling by the Assad regime’s forces and their allies.
“The office decided to suspend schools in the town due to the heavy shelling by regime forces and for the safety of schoolchildren,” the office said.
The office said that there were 13 schools in Kafarzeita, 10 of which are completely destroyed by the Russian airstrikes and regime artillery shelling. It added that two primary schools and one secondary school are damaged.
The office indicated that they are facing several obstacles, the most serious of which are the constant shelling and the long distance schoolchildren have to walk to get to their schools as they live away from the center of the town for fear of bombardment.
Another obstacle is the refusal of many humanitarian organizations to work in the town for fear of the frequent shelling, the office said, adding that teachers in the town have been working as volunteers and being paid very little.
Schools in Kafarzeita were targeted by the Assad regime during the day. Students were also targeted while they were returning to their homes, the office said, adding that at least four schoolchildren were killed and many others were maimed in these attacks.
The Syrian Coalition earlier condemned the Assad regime’s targeting of the populated places, especially schools. It called on the international community to put an end to these attacks and to hold to account those responsible for repeated violations and war crimes against civilians.
The liberated areas in northern Syria, especially the province of Idlib are subjected to frequent rocket and artillery shelling by the Assad regime’s forces despite the Idlib agreement. The shelling is causing dozens of civilian casualties. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Baladi News Network)
