Attachments
SITUATION ANALYSIS
After five years of conflict, Syria’s schooling rates have hit rock bottom. The gross enrolment ratio in basic education decreased to 74%. Two decades of investment in learning have been lost. Five Syrian Governorates account for nearly half of the children not in school: Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Idleb. By early 2016, Syria had lost more than a quarter of its schools with more than 6,000 damaged by violence, forced to close, used for military purpose or sheltering hundreds of displaced families. Classrooms emptied as teachers were killed and more than 52,000 left their posts. According to UNICEF’s latest report “No Place for Children” (March 2016), the loss of human capital due to the ongoing crisis in Syria could reach USD 10.7 billion, or about one fifth of the pre-conflict GDP, if children and youth don’t go back to school. In hard-to-reach and besieged areas, children and youth are worried about their school certificates, and the continuation of the siege is affecting their present and future education achievements as well as their hopes. Adolescents and youth in Syria continue to face ongoing challenges associated with insecurity, family separation, marginalization, and limited opportunities for personal and professional growth.