Syria: UN sparks hope among Iraqi refugee schoolchildren

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is reaching out to Iraqi schoolchildren in the Syrian capital Damascus by distributing school supplies before the start of the school year next month.

The agency – working in concert with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) – hopes to reach 30,000 children by the time the new school year kicks off on 7 September in Syria, where education is both free and compulsory until the age of 15.

Last year, some 20,000 children received supplies from the UNHCR distribution, and this year, the agency expects that number to grow to 30,000.

“The Syrian Government has been very accommodating towards refugee children, but there are obstacles to their attendance, and additional costs, such as buying school materials, are a major problem,” said Carole Rigaud, UNCHR Education Officer in Damascus.

Iraqi families taking refuge in the country who hope to see their children attend school face such barriers as not having the proper documents or being unable to afford transportation costs. Meanwhile, some Iraqi refugee children also have trouble adjusting to the Syrian curriculum which is different from that in their home country.

Through the programme, UNHCR hopes to encourage Iraqi refugees to send their children to school by curbing their financial burden and providing information on the available education options.

“Without education, a person is ignorant, and even though the schooling of some of my children was interrupted, it is essential that they continue their studies,” said Abu Zaidoon, whose family arrived in Syria in 2005.

His four sons and one daughter are all enrolled in school, but he said the increasingly high cost of living is making this difficult. “At least this distribution is sparing us some of the expenses,” he said.

Each school kit – worth between $46 and $79 depending on the school grade – being handed out includes a school bag containing dozens of stationary items, a uniform, shoes and sports clothes.

UNCHR estimates that over 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, with most of them currently living in Syria and Jordan.

More than 33,000 Iraqi children were in school in the 2006-2007 school year, according to the Syrian Ministry of Education, which also said that the number surged to nearly 50,000 last year.