By Omaima Mohammad and Abdul-Hamid Haj Mohammad (Zaman Al-Wasl)- Grandmother Umm Hani, who lives in the city of Idlib, which is under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, in northwestern Syria, struggles to educate her four grandchildren, “Kawkab, Hala, Reem and the youngest, Hani.” The eldest of them is 14 years old, as she was their breadwinner after their father was killed in an airstrike targeting southern Idlib in 2013, and their mother abandoned them when she married another man and moved to live with him in an area far away from them when Hani was an infant. “We do not want food or drink, but rather to keep them in school,” the fifty-year-old woman said, expressing her strong desire to continue their education, but “the expenses of clothing, transportation, and school supplies have exhausted us.” This prompted her to search for a school for orphans that would undertake the education of her children instead of having them drop out of school, due to her inability to bear the burden of expenses in a public or private school in an area where private schools have become the first destination for education. The investigators monitored multiple problems affecting the education sector in the areas of northwestern Syria outside the control of the Syrian regime, and there are two parts, the first is Idlib Governorate and the western countryside of Aleppo, which is administered by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the Salvation Government. The second is the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo, which is run by factions of what is known as the Syrian National Army and the Syrian Interim Government, and in both regions the impact is more negative on students. The most prominent feature of education in these regions is the trend towards privatization of the education sector at its various stages and its popularity at the expense of the public sector, which is increasing in the Idlib region, and the continuing state of education in the Aleppo countryside with the absence of a single centralization and governance among the education directorates. This reality has affected children at various levels of education in a fragile society that has been suffering from war for more than 12 years. Last June, the Support Coordination Unit of the Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, issued Schools in Syria Report No. 8 for the year 2022-2023. According to the report, the number of students within the operating schools reached more than one million students, and the number of students who dropped out and the obstacles that prevent them from committing to school are estimated. According to the report, the highest percentage of children out of school was in Idlib Governorate, where it reached 69% among children between the ages of 6 and 18 years, and the percentage of children out of school in the Aleppo countryside reached 63%. The report indicated that the largest number of children dropping out of school is in areas where there are... It has a large number of displaced people. Privatization of education in Idlib The local authorities in Idlib region, the Ministry of Education in the Salvation Government, have taken a tendency over the past years to privatize education and neglect public education, which prompted investors with capital to invest by opening private schools, and with the passage of time, they have become increasingly large in the region. Privatization of education means “the transfer of ownership of government educational institutions from the public sector to the private sector,” meaning the transfer of part of government ownership in the education sector to private ownership. In Idlib, the Salvation Government charges approximately $500 for licensing any private school, in addition to the rates it imposes on each classroom per year, amounting to approximately $30 depending on the number of students in one class and its annual tuition, according to what the director of one of the private schools told us, who refused to disclose. His name has been revealed for security reasons. The population in the Idlib region has recently turned to enrolling their children in private schools as a result of what a number of parents described to us as the neglect of public education, the sudden cessation of support from educational organizations, and the lack of textbooks. In addition to the lack of quality of education due to teachers working voluntarily without compensation, despite the debilitating economic situation of the majority of parents who work throughout the year to secure their children’s annual tuition fees. Tuitions for private schools at the primary and preparatory levels range from $10 to $50 per month, while in public schools they are limited to a nominal fee at the beginning of the year. Umm Muhammad, a displaced person from the southern countryside of Idlib, who resides in the city of Idlib, says that she registered her two children “first and second grade” in a public school in the city of Idlib, but after a short period she transferred them to a private school. She added that the reasons are the large number of students in one class, which hinders the teacher’s work and reduces the educational activities that students receive and thus the quality of education. Jamil Zidan, a member of the Kafranbel Educational Complex and a former school principal in the Idlib countryside, says: The lack of support for the educational sector and the insufficient school buildings resulted in major overcrowding in schools, especially after the wave of displacement and displacement from the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides. In addition to the lack of educational supplies, salaries, and logistics, which led to limited public services for the school, Zidan confirms. Zidane attributes the idea of the popularity of private education to the decline in support and its lack of continuity on a regular basis, pointing out that the Directorate of Education may have contributed to this by issuing a decision not to duplicate work, as no teacher has the right to work in both sectors together (i.e., the teacher must work in the morning shift). and evening classes in two different schools) Thus, some teachers preferred to work in private schools, which harmed public schools. “The Ministry of Education in the Salvation Government issued verbal instructions, without issuing a decision to do so, according to what a number of teachers in the city of Idlib told us.” The Ministry of Education in the Salvation Government attributed the spread of private education in Idlib Governorate, according to a special interview with the Assistant Minister of Education, to the difficult conditions that the region went through, the ongoing war, and the weakness of international funding provided to the public education sector, which encouraged some investors to open more private schools. The Assistant Minister of Education in the Salvation Government, Ziad Al-Omar, denied the existence of any plan that would limit the work of private education, since private education is essentially a substitute for public education, provided that any private facility meets the licensing conditions set by the Ministry of Education, as he put it. He pointed out that supporting teachers requires a very large financial cost, and therefore the Ministry worked to support education in all schools at the beginning of the second semester of this year, and there are no schools operating on a volunteer system, according to what he said. Public and private education, teachers’ stance Many teachers from public schools resort to private schools, for several reasons, the most important of which is the continuity of financial income, although the difference is not large, as their salaries range between $100 and more than $200, while the salaries of public schools in the basic cycle range between $100 and $170. Zaidan believes that some private schools give students grades higher than their level, which is what teachers in public schools suffer from, as they clash with the families of students who previously attended private schools, and they protest that their children were receiving higher grades in private schools. He points out that giving grades comes as a result of In order to enroll and register in school. Among the problems that public sector schools suffer from are the lack of basic means necessary to complete the educational process in schools and the lack of logistics. The teacher (B.M.), who refused to reveal her name for security reasons, said that she worked as a volunteer this year for three months in a public school in the Idlib countryside and was The school suffers from a major deficiency until an organization sponsored the school and provided it with the basics necessary for the educational process. Education in camps The situation of education in the camps does not differ much from the rest of the regions, and of course the reality in the cities is much better than in the camps, where the dropout rates of children are high, according to a report by the Support Coordination Unit. Osama Shehab, a primary school teacher in Al Karama camp near the town of Atma, north of Idlib, says, “There is a clear weakness in the educational level of children in the camp, in addition to the dropout of many of them who find it difficult to reach a nearby school.” He added that the lack of support led to the camp, which is inhabited by more than 500 families, being left without a school over the past years, and after many appeals by the families, a school was opened there, but hundreds of students were dropping out of the camp. Aleppo: Decentralization of education, ongoing teacher strikes In the border city of Azaz, north of Aleppo, Abu Abdo suffers during the journey of educating his five children, as he is forced to make great efforts in his home given the state the educational process has reached in the city, with successive teacher strikes, the decisions of the Directorate of Education, and the lack of specialized and qualified teachers in schools. Abu Abdo is not the only one. Rather, many residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the state that public schools affiliated with the Directorate of Education in Azaz have reached, due to the successive strikes carried out by teachers to demand what they called their legitimate rights and an increase in their salaries, which are now equivalent to about $65. Who manages education in SNA areas? 19 directorates of education in the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo and the areas of Tal Abyad, north of Raqqa and Ras al-Ain, north of Hasakah, in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. All of these directorates operate separately from each other, without a single centralization, but rather are limited to coordinating to determine the dates of certification exams. The education directorates in the aforementioned regions are affiliated to the local city councils that were formed following the military operations launched by Turkey and the National Army factions against ISIS and the Kurdish parties. In turn, these councils are affiliated to the Turkish states that administer them and receive decisions from them. Muhammad Sabah Hamid, head of the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate, a union that brings together teachers in the northern and eastern Aleppo countryside, says: There is ambiguity in the authority of the education directorates in the Aleppo countryside, and all of these directorates lack an internal system, meaning that the decisions issued by them These are illegal decisions and are not based on a clause in the directorate’s internal regulations. Muhammad Sabah Hamid, head of the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate According to Hamid, the relationship between the Turkish states and the local councils, which in turn manage the education directorates, is unclear. “Meaning that the one who practically manages the education file is what is called the Turkish coordinator for the Syrian regions, meaning that the Azaz Council or the Directorate of Education does not receive any written or paper decisions from the Turkish state, but rather they are verbal instructions from the Turkish coordinator, and in turn the local council or the Directorate of Education implements them, according to to the union official. We tried to contact the Directorate of Education, Director of Education in Azaz, Yousef Hajoula, to request clarification and a statement about the mechanism of the Directorate’s work and decision-making and the missing centralization, but the Directorate of Education apologized for not making any statement on the matter. Sana Hasano, an activist in the field of education in the Aleppo countryside, says that the Turkish side has completely controlled the education file in the areas of northern Aleppo, and there has been a weakness in coordination and confusion among teachers and students. While the mathematics teacher at Abdullah Rajab School in the city of Azaz believes that the relationship of the Turkish side with the education file is one of irresponsibility, and all those responsible for the education file always shirk responsibility and when questions are asked of them, their answers are gelatinous and flexible. Decentralization deepens the tragedy of education Each directorate in the Aleppo countryside operates separately from the other, and issues decisions within its entity that may sometimes contradict the decisions of the other directorates spread across the region. According to a number of teachers and families, this frustrates the educational process and makes it have an unclear approach to its management. “Hamid,” the head of the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate, pointed out that the lack of centralization between the education directorates in the Aleppo countryside is that each of these directorates is affiliated with a specific Turkish state and there is no coordination among them, which leads to a loss of governance and every city operates according to the local council system. affiliated with him. Despite the presence of the Ministry of Education in the Syrian Interim Government in that region, the Ministry does not have any powers to issue decisions or conduct exams for basic and secondary education certificates. Indeed, there is no coordination between it and the education directorates that are affiliated with the local councils. According to what he said? We contacted the Minister of Education in the Syrian Interim Government, Dr. Jihad Al-Hijazi, to find out the regulating relationship between the ministry and the education directorates and the reasons for the lack of centralization and governance, but he apologized for answering and replying to the questions. The head of the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate says that there is no role for the Ministry of Education in the Syrian Interim Government in managing the educational process in the areas of Aleppo countryside or the areas administered by local councils affiliated with the Turkish provinces due to the curtailment of the administrative role of the Interim Government. He pointed out that the Teachers Union discussed with the ministry the horizon for a solution and through it submitted proposals to the Turkish Ministry of Education. Hamid pointed out that the union sought to govern the education directorates, which is one of the union’s primary goals, and this was achieved through pressure from and through the strikes that the union called for during the last period and through media and communication with those directorates. Continuing teacher strikes Teacher Hassan (pseudonym) says that he participated in the strikes called for by teachers in the northern and eastern Aleppo countryside during the past two years, due to the deteriorating conditions of teachers and the continued deterioration of the educational process, attributing this to the education directorates and the way they manage the education file. Teachers carried out many strikes during the past academic years, “2021-2022” and “2022-2023,” and some of the strikes extended for more than a week, during which teachers demanded improving their living conditions by increasing their salaries and improving their income. Sana Hasano, an education activist, said that the teacher, before his work, used to sign contracts that included 22 clauses, all of which were unfair to the teacher, including that the teacher had no right to demonstrate or express an opinion on any issue related to public affairs.
Sana Hasano, An education activist
Hamid, head of the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate, says that the contracts were not signed by the teachers. They were proposed several years ago and were rejected by the teachers. They are merely compliance contracts that do not guarantee any rights for the teacher, but only for the benefit of the education directorates, while the teachers currently work without any Contracts.
"Hasano" adds that the Directorate of Education was silent at every strike announced by teachers and did not take any decision or declare anything, and it was carrying out inconspicuous actions, including submitting the names of teachers participating in the strikes to Turkish Education, and there they received a discount on their salaries.
The average salary of teachers in the areas administered by the education directorates of the local councils is 1,925 Turkish liras, which is only approximately $70, which is not commensurate with the cost of living in the areas of northwestern Syria that are outside the control of the Syrian regime. ($1= 28 TL)
Low salaries force teachers to work in other professions, to secure the needs of their families, especially displaced teachers whose costs of living increase through house rent. According to Hasano, the salary a teacher receives is not enough for more than a week, and most of them resort to working in other professions.
Turkish curriculum imposed in Aleppo countryside
THe IDP 3-student mother, Ahlam, originally of Idlib, suffers while teaching her children the Turkish language subject for primary school students.
The subjects are described as huge and not commensurate with the level of the students, especially since her children's school does not have a specialized Turkish language teacher.
According to the Free Syrian Teachers Syndicate, the number of school hours allocated weekly to the Turkish language subject in the primary and preparatory stages is 4 hours, compared to 5 hours for the Arabic language and two hours for the English language.
The head of the Teachers Syndicate explains that the problem lies in the lack of teachers specializing in the Turkish language. Rather, those who teach are those who have taken training courses in the Turkish language, and their number is small and insufficient in relation to the number of classrooms in each school.
Meanwhile, Ahlam is forced to use social media platforms to translate the lessons that her children take, in order to teach them. Ahla often suffers from the lack of internet or electricity, which deepens her suffering with teaching her children, who take the lessons mostly without benefit.
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