The Syrian Interim Government (SIG) announced that the Ministry of Education was finalizing plans to print textbooks for all accessible schools in the liberated areas across Syria.
SIG’s Minister of Education Imad Barq said that the Ministry would work with local partners to secure textbooks for schools in the areas that the Ministry do not have access to.
Barq pointed out that the Ministry had finalized plans to print 700,000 textbooks for all grades to be distributes to all schools in the liberated areas. He noted that the project is supported by the Qatar Charity aid group.
The Ministry has been coordinating with Qatar Charity for over three months to develop the project, Barq added. He expressed appreciation for the support being provided by Qatar Charity as well as for the role of the directorates of education in securing all the necessary data and determining the requirements for the success of the project.
With regards to the areas that the Ministry do not have access to, such as the besieged towns south of Damascus and the Yarmouk Camp, Barq said that the Ministry will work with local partners to have the textbooks printed inside these areas.
Barq said that all educational institutions and schools, including those that were opened with the support of aid and charity groups, adopt the curriculum of the Ministry and coordinate with it through the directorates and educational complexes in the liberated areas.
Barq went on to say that that all schools, educational complexes and directorates of education in Idlib province are run by SIG. He also said that there were difficulties and challenges facing the education process in the liberated areas, most notably the lack of sufficient, regular support leading to the closure of some schools.
SIG previously appealed to aid groups to step up support for the education process in the liberated areas. It expressed concern about the dropout of children at an early age to engage in the labor market due to the difficult economic conditions as well as about the Assad regime and Russia’s deliberate targeting of s schools. Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
