Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
September 9, 2022
On the occasion of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stresses that the Assad regime and its allies are responsible for hundreds of attacks on schools in Syria through aerial and artillery bombardment. Multiple reports by human rights groups indicated that these attacks have partially or completely damaged more than 40 percent of schools in Syria, killed tens of thousands of children and educational staff, and deprived a third of Syria’s children from education.
The destruction of this large number of schools is due to the Assad regime and its allies’ use of scorched-earth policy in many Syrian areas. They did not differentiate between a school, a hospital, a mosque, or a shelter in civilians areas. Moreover, they have been deliberately targeting schools, especially in eastern Aleppo, eastern Ghouta, Homs and its countryside for several years.
The SOC warns that these attacks have not stopped until now, as the criminal Assad regime and its enablers are seeking to turn Syria into a hotbed of ignorance and darkness by targeting educational institutions in the liberated areas.
The SOC commends the efforts being made by many humanitarian organizations in the field of education as it calls on donor countries to step up support as crucial to improving education and ensuring the return of hundreds of thousands of children to their schools.
