A new rights report has warned of a “worrying escalation in systematic attacks” by Assad regime forces and Russia on schools in northwest Syria, leading to hundreds of schools being rendered inoperative and over 2.45 million children across Syria being out of school.
The report, titled “Policy Brief: A Worrying Escalation in Attacks on Schools in Northwest Syria,” was jointly published by the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) and the Hurras Network. It highlights how deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools and educational facilities, have become a defining feature of Syria’s humanitarian crisis. The destruction of these facilities has not only damaged physical structures but also jeopardized the future of Syria’s children.
According to the report, “Years of war have left lasting impacts that will extend for generations.” Syria’s education system is under immense strain, with numerous facilities partially or completely destroyed. This has inflicted lasting scars on children as a direct result of deliberate attacks on educational infrastructure and civilian neighborhoods.
The report noted that more than 2.45 million children across Syria are out of school, with the highest percentages in northwest Syria. In Idlib, 69% of children are out of school, while the figure stands at 38% in Aleppo. Factors contributing to these staggering numbers include damage to educational facilities caused by ongoing conflict, targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure, and assaults on educators and students.
The report highlighted UN estimates showing that 1,054 schools in northwest Syria have been damaged, resulting in hundreds of schools becoming inoperative. While attacks on educational facilities have varied over the past 13 years, there has been a significant increase in attacks on education over the past year.
From September 2023 to September 2024, there were 43 documented attacks on schools, compared to just eight attacks in 2022–2023 and ten attacks in 2021–2022, representing an over 200% increase. The report emphasized that since 2011, systematic military operations and shelling by Russian and regime forces have destroyed thousands of schools. These repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure in populated areas strongly suggest they were deliberate.
The escalation in attacks on schools in northwest Syria has been particularly pronounced over the past 12 months, especially after the October 2023 military escalation. This period saw systematic targeting of civilian neighborhoods.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 27 schools in northern Syria were damaged or destroyed in October 2023 alone.
Since the October 2023 escalation, the Hurras Network has documented 47 attacks on 40 schools, resulting in the deaths of a child and a teacher, as well as injuries to nine children and another teacher. The report also recorded 15 attacks on 14 schools in northwest Syria during 2024.
These attacks have compounded the strain on an already overwhelmed education system, which was further weakened by the February 2023 earthquake.
The report called on the international community to address attacks on schools and prioritize accountability in all international forums concerning Syria, including the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and Human Rights Council. It urged also the international community, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, to activate accountability mechanisms and clearly attribute these crimes to their perpetrators.
The report also recommended establishing or supporting local committees within Syria to document crimes against children, including attacks on schools. It called for extending the Commission of Inquiry’s mandate beyond March 2025 and expanding its focus on violations against children, with adequate resources allocated to monitor and document these violations.
Additionally, the report emphasized the importance of supporting a national declaration for safe schools in Syria, including a broader definition of attacks on education. This initiative should gain the backing of various local actors and de facto authorities.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) reiterated that the primary obstacle to education remains the continued bombing and destruction of educational facilities by Assad forces and their allies, depriving Syrian children and youth of their right to education in a safe environment.
The SOC affirmed the right of Syrian children and youth to education and the need to provide them with everything necessary to complete their educational journey safely and effectively. This requires serious international action to halt attacks on civilians and educational facilities and to support the education process in the liberated areas administered by the Syrian Interim Government. Such efforts are essential to ensuring the future of hundreds of thousands of children and protecting them from ignorance and extremism. The SOC emphasized that guaranteeing development, prosperity, and stability in any society is fundamentally rooted in education.
The SOC also stressed that Assad regime and its allies are systematically and deliberately targeting all aspects of stability and life in liberated areas. They show no regard for international norms, treaties, or resolutions that criminalize the targeting of civilians, schools, and infrastructure. Instead, they exploit the international community’s and the United Nations’ inaction and the shortcomings of their organizations.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
