Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sarah McMillan
Mr. Phillips
English III
03 May 2018
Everyone knows the damaging effects of war on the soldiers, but what about the civilians
of the countries in which the battles are being fought, specifically the children? Many children
that have grown up during the civil war in Syria have not been able to live normal lives. They do
not receive adequate food and shelter, and what many people may not think about is that it also
impacts their education. The war in Syria has caused many children’s educations to suffer, with
One way the war has affected Syrian children’s education has been that it destroys
schools or damages the resources needed in the classroom. The war has caused the schools
themselves to “bear the scars of war”; classrooms are freezing due to high fuel prices to heat
them, the desks are old and damaged, and the schools don’t have any new technology (Samia
Nakhoul). “Things like electricity, internet connection, everything I need for my virtual study
was hard to get because of the siege and sometimes not available at all,” says Mahmoud, a 20-
year-old in Eastern Ghouta in an interview with Sean Coughlan of BBC News Global. The
violence of the war also destroys the places the children would normally go to learn. At least
4,072 schools have been forced to close, been used as shelters, or been destroyed (Shireen Daft),
and due to the “high probability” they may get targeted again, many schools that have been
destroyed are not being repaired (Seven Ways That Seven Years of Syrian War Has Affected
Children and Their Education). According to the International Rescue Committee, over one-
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third of schools have been damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of teachers and
professors have fled the country. Because school-aged children have very limited access to
teachers and to places where education is provided, there are not many options for them to
pursue an education.
Another way the Syrian Civil War has affected education is that many children are not
going to school for various conflict-related reasons. Numerous young Syrian refugees have not
attended school in over five years, which has negative academic, emotional, and psychosocial
effects (A Human Right to Literacy Education: Implications for Serving Syrian Refugee
Children). In fact, according to UNICEF USA, more than 1.75 million Syrian children within the
country and one million refugee children outside the country are receiving no education at all,
which translates to about 43% of Syrian children (Seven Ways That Seven Years of Syrian War
Has Affected Children and Their Education). Many of these children are not in school because of
limited funding, capacity of partners, and families’ lack of livelihoods (Syria Crisis), and others
may drop out because of danger or to help provide for their families (7 Things You Need to
Know about the Horror in Syria). The fighting between the Syrian government and rebels puts
Syrian children’s lives in danger, preventing them from having safe travel to and from school,
and even at school, as well as destroying many families’ livelihoods, forcing the children to stay
The Syrian Civil War also has an impact on the education of Syrian refugees who have
fled to other countries. For Syrian children who speak their native Arabic, learning another
language and literacy instruction, refugee children experience a lower likelihood of class
participation and a greater likelihood of social isolation or drop out” (A Human Right to Literacy
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Education: Implications for Serving Syrian Refugee Children). Syrian students in other countries
have a harder time learning in an unfamiliar environment, especially when the community they
now live in speaks a different language. Consequently, this can put many Syrian refugee students
Within the country, the lack of schooling being provided may negatively impact
children’s futures and create an uneducated generation. According to VOA News, “a generation
of young children has grown up without proper education, with 180,000 youths forced into child
labor.” Furthermore, failing to educate Syrian children would lead to a “lost generation” and
substantially impair efforts to rebuild the country (Fears Rise of Lost Generation as More Syrian
Refugee Children out of School). In the BBC News Global interview by Sean Coughlan with
Mahmoud mentioned earlier, Coughlan says, “[Mahmoud] fears for Syria’s next generation,
missing out on education and with the risk of ‘ignorance and child labor’.” Syrian children have
unfairly been “robbed of an education and a future” (Report: Fears Rise of 'Lost Generation' as
School). As stated by UNICEF USA, “having already lost their homes, schools, and
The war in Syria began in 2011, after peaceful protests against the high unemployment,
corruption, and lack of political freedom under Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, turned
violent. The two sides in the war, the Syrian government and those against it, may believe that
fighting is the only option to solve the issue; however, they seemingly do not acknowledge the
importance of the citizen’s lives. If the children do not grow up with an education, the future of
the country will be in danger. Rather than physically fighting, the two sides should have
necessary, they should move the fight to unpopulated areas of the country so they aren’t putting
The Syrian Civil War is affecting innocent Syrian citizens, especially school-aged
children. The conflict is keeping many of them out of school, preventing them from receiving an
education, therefore negatively impacting their futures. Although the Syrian government and its
opposition believe continuing the fight is the way to solve their disagreement, the fighting puts
Syrian children’s education and futures in danger. The opposing sides in the war need to find a
more diplomatic solution to resolve their conflict, or fight in an unpopulated area, for the safety
Works Cited
“7 Things You Need to Know about the Horror in Syria.” International Rescue Committee
“A Human Right to Literacy Education: Implications for Serving Syrian Refugee Children.”
Coughlan, Sean. “The World's Toughest Place to Study?” BBC News, BBC, 28 Mar. 2018,
Daft, Shireen. “Why Schools Become Battlegrounds during Conflict.” The Conversation, 26
Nakhoul, Samia. “Years Late, Syria's Children of War Learn to Read and Write.” Reuters,
www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-children/years-late-syrias-children-of-wa
Reuters. “Report: Fears Rise of 'Lost Generation' as More Syrian Refugee Children Out of
www.voanews.com/a/syrian-refugees-lacking-education/4320249.html. Accessed 19
April 2018.
2018.
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Team, Their News. “Seven Ways That Seven Years of Syrian War Has Affected Children and
theirworld.org/news/seven-years-of-syria-conflict-how-it-affects-children-education-refu
TRTWorld. Fears Rise of Lost Generation as More Syrian Refugee Children out of School, TRT
www.trtworld.com/mea/fears-rise-of-lost-generation-as-more-syrian-refugee-children-out
reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/unicef-syria-crisis-situation-report-2017-humani