Children on front line of conflict as multiple schools in North West Syria bombed, says Save the Children CEO

August 11, 2016…Attacks on schools are increasing across Idlib and Aleppo in north-west Syria, as airstrikes and ground fighting intensify.

In just one week, six schools run by Save the Children partners in the area have been hit directly or affected by bombing in the area. Four suffered damage to the school building and in three of the incidents, there were casualties among children or staff.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International, says children are being caught up in a violent struggle that threatens their future and their lives. “Children in many parts of Syria take huge risks to continue their education – studying in basements for protection from airstrikes, dodging sniper fire to get to class and crossing dangerous checkpoints to take their exams.”

In one incident, a girl was killed by a barrel bomb a few hundred metres from a school in Idlib governorate. In another, a guard was seriously injured when shells fell in the school grounds while children were in class, and in yet another staff reported that a barrel bomb directly hit a school building, destroying the upper floors.

Violet, one of the Syrian partner organisations running schools in North West Syria said, “Drones, helicopters and fighter jets fly over the area all day – children are scared all the time and their parents are afraid to send them to schools because the jets hit most of the surrounding areas.”

The threat to education is happening at a time when children in Aleppo are running desperately short of water, food and medicine with the UN warning of ‘dire consequences’ for the civilian population. Hospitals, ambulances and other civilian infrastructure also continue to come under attack, with seven attacks on health facilities in Aleppo governorate reported in just four days from 4 – 7 August.

Thorning-Schmidt said, “Syrian teachers have shown incredible bravery, with many staying behind or setting up informal schools to keep educating children. Despite their best efforts, more than two million children in Syria are out of school. Every week, we see schools and routes to school taken by children bombed with impunity. Even in a conflict, children have a right to learn and play without the constant threat of being killed. A ceasefire is urgently needed.”

All schools in Aleppo shut in late July due to the increased violence, and in Idlib many facilities have been forced to close for days or weeks at a time. In the last month, schools we support that have remained partly open have lost a total of 65 teaching days because of the conflict, and at least 16 have either been directly hit, affected by nearby bombing, or forced to suspend classes.

The attacks on our partners’ schools represent only part of the story and many more incidents are likely to go unreported. For five years now, schools across Syria have been damaged, destroyed or occupied, depriving children of their education.

-ENDS-

 Statistics & further information:

• Save the Children supports local Syrian partners who run 60 schools or other learning spaces in north-west Syria, currently serving 17,772 students.
• In the past week (2-8 August) incidents affecting Save the Children-supported schools in Idlib and Aleppo included:
• Two boys and a 10 year old girl were injured by bombing just a few hundred metres away from a school in rural Aleppo. The girl is still in hospital after undergoing extensive eye surgery
• A girl was killed by bombing a few hundred metres away from a school in rural Idlib.
• A bomb directly hit a building containing a Save the Children supported school in Aleppo. The upper floors of the building were completely destroyed – the school itself is on the ground floor and sustained minor damage.
• A guard at a school in rural Idlib was seriously injured as shells fell just inside the school grounds while children were in class.
• Another school in rural Idlib suffered damage to windows and walls during bombing. This was the second time it was damaged in five days.
• A school in rural Idlib sustained damage after bombs fell less than 100 metres away