Private and public schools and institutes in the town of Saraqib in southern rural Idlib will be suspended for five days because of the Assad regime’s targeting of residential neighborhoods with aerial bombardment, artillery and rocket shelling.
Local activists said that the suspension will continue until next Saturday, March 2, adding that the decision affects 234 schools distributed in three educational complexes in the towns of Khan Sheikoun, Maaret al-Nu’man, and Kafranbel.
The activists pointed out that more than 79,000 students were affected by the suspension of schools, adding that the suspension is likely to cause a delay in the completion of the curriculum, let alone its possible negative effect on the psychology of students in general.
The shelling targeted the majority of the schools in the town of Jarjanaz southeast of Idlib, while many schools in Ma’arat al-Nu’man were damaged as a result of the shelling. The shelling also caused damage to the educational complex and several schools in the town of Khan Sheikoun.
The Syrian Coalition said that the Assad regime forces and their allies are deliberately targeting populated areas to terrorize the civilian population.
The Coalition condemned the repeated targeting of schools and populated areas, calling on the international community to deter the Assad regime’s forces and holding to account those responsible for these repeated violations against schoolchildren and their families.
Large areas of Idlib province have been subjected to intensified rocket and artillery shelling by the Assad regime, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties, the destruction of civilian property, and the disruption of schools in recent weeks although the area is covered by the Idlib agreement. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
