On the autumn mornings of Idlib, children head to their schools wearing mismatched clothes and carrying worn-out bags. Some walk through the rubble, while others sit on the ground inside a tattered tent erected on the ruins of an old school building. Here, in a governorate exhausted by war, the bells no longer ring as they once did, and the blackboards have turned into cracked gray walls covered in dust.
As the new school year begins, thousands of students in Idlib find themselves facing a harsh educational reality shaped by years of bombardment, displacement, and neglect. Hundreds of schools have been reduced to rubble or turned into shelters, while educational institutions struggle to bridge the enormous gap between needs and available resources.
As a result, thousands of children have been deprived of their right to education, especially in areas where no alternative schools or temporary classrooms have been established. Many families have been forced either to send their children to private schools in nearby areas or to keep them at home, waiting for an improvement that may not come anytime soon.
Schools Without Walls and Marginalized Temporary Classrooms
In the town of Kafr Nabl, south of Idlib, one of the oldest elementary schools seems to tell the story of destruction itself. Among its collapsed walls lie the remnants of decayed wooden desks and blackboards turned to ashes, while the smell of dampness fills the few classrooms that partially survived the shelling.
Abdullah al-Saghir, the school principal (54 years old), told +963: “Our school used to receive more than a thousand students every year before it was turned into rubble by the airstrikes.”
He adds that continuous repair efforts over the past eight months have achieved no progress “because of the absence of funding and building materials, and because no authority has taken responsibility.”
The lack of functional schools has forced families in nearby villages to seek alternative solutions, such as setting up large tents or renting old buildings to use as temporary classrooms. Yet, the situation inside them is hardly any better.
In a scene that reflects the tragedy of education in northern Syria, al-Saghir says: “About sixty students now sit inside a single classroom without desks or blackboards.”
He continues, describing the harsh conditions: “We teach children on the floor. There is no ventilation, no heating, and no teaching tools. In winter, rainwater seeps into the classrooms, and in summer, the heat is unbearable. Education under these conditions threatens the future of an entire generation.”
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The Scale of Destruction Exceeds Institutional Capacity
Director of Education Mohammed Saed Qaddour confirms that the level of destruction in Idlib’s schools is “extremely large.” He explains in his interview with +963 that around four thousand schools have been completely destroyed, and another four thousand have been partially damaged.
He notes that the ministry is addressing this reality through three main approaches: “Investment for reconstruction by granting some destroyed schools to the private sector to rehabilitate and operate them for a limited period, with a quota of free seats for students; reconstruction through donor organizations and charities; and direct repair operations in areas lacking educational alternatives, alongside launching an electronic platform to contribute to partial restoration work.”
Qaddour adds that recent statistics indicate the existence of 7,400 destroyed and non-operational schools nationwide. Meanwhile, 102 schools have been fully rehabilitated, 345 are currently under restoration, and 2,540 have undergone needs assessment. This demonstrates the scale of the challenge facing the ministry in rebuilding the educational infrastructure.
According to local statistics, Idlib province hosts more than half a million students across various educational levels, but only 40 percent of schools are now fit for use compared to the pre-2011 period. Most still suffer from shortages of desks, textbooks, and teachers.
Declining Funding and Growing Numbers
Educational supervisor Mohammed al-Ali (35 years old) believes that this school year marks one of the most severe educational crises in the region, as “field and financial factors have accumulated to create a wide gap between needs and available resources.”
He tells +963: “The number of students has risen significantly due to return waves to damaged areas, while external funding for the education sector has dropped dramatically, deepening the gap between needs and capabilities.”
Al-Ali points out that more than 1,500 schools require repair or complete reconstruction to accommodate the increasing number of students, adding that the deteriorating infrastructure “remains one of the major current challenges.”
He continues: “Destruction and lack of educational facilities are not the only reasons thousands of children are deprived of schooling. Difficult living conditions, poverty, and repeated displacement push many families either to keep their children at home or to send them to work instead of school.”
Education Becomes a Costly Luxury for Poor Families
In northern Hama countryside, Raeda Abdul Baqi (38 years old) tells another side of the tragedy. She says she is unable to enroll all four of her children in school, explaining that “the distance and high transportation costs form a major obstacle to their regular attendance.”
Raeda says: “I send only two of my children to school, while the other two help me provide for the family amid these difficult economic conditions.”
She adds that the absence of schools in her town forced her to enroll her children in a private school in a nearby town after the four local schools serving the area were destroyed, which has doubled the family’s financial burden amid their deteriorating living conditions.
In the city of Saraqib, south of Idlib, 12-year-old Yaseen faces a similar fate. He was forced to drop out of school “because there are no nearby schools where we live,” explaining that “all the schools were completely destroyed, and no alternative educational facilities were established to serve the residents.”
He tells +963: “This reality deprived me of continuing my education and pushed me to work in a motorcycle repair shop with my father to help support our family.”
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Destruction Extends Beyond Buildings to Souls
In tents and destroyed buildings, children not only face the absence of learning tools but also suffer from deep psychological scars left by war.
Rula al-Hussein (33 years old), a psychological counselor working in a school in southern Idlib countryside, says that “these harsh educational conditions directly affect the mental well-being of children, increasing dropout rates and weakening academic performance.”
She adds to +963: “Students who study in unstable environments, such as tents or destroyed buildings, suffer from concentration difficulties and constant anxiety. Some have lost relatives or witnessed violent events, which directly affects their learning ability.”
Al-Hussein explains that there is “an urgent need to integrate psychological support into the educational process, especially for children in early grades.” However, she notes that “most schools lack specialists or sustainable support programs capable of addressing these challenges.”
An Uncertain Future for Education in Northern Syria
Amid destroyed schools, overcrowded classrooms, and declining funding, the future of education in Idlib appears bleak and open to further crises. With the continued absence of long-term solutions, the education sector faces the risk of complete collapse, compounded by funding shortages, stalled reconstruction efforts, and ongoing insecurity.
With every new morning, thousands of children in northern Syria wake up with a simple dream: to return to their schools, not their tents, and to hear the school bells ring once again, instead of remaining silent amid the ruins and uncertainty.
