Aleppo, Jan. 25 (SANA) Syrian education authorities have launched a wide-ranging campaign to rehabilitate schools in recently liberated neighborhoods of Aleppo city and its eastern countryside, following years of extensive damage to educational infrastructure.
The campaign targets several areas, including the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo, as well as the towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana, where many schools were heavily damaged during the conflict.
Led by the Aleppo Directorate of Education and carried out in coordination with relevant government bodies and supporting international organizations, the effort aims to ensure the return of students to classrooms at the start of the second academic semester.
Schooling in many areas had been largely disrupted for years after facilities were converted into military sites and sustained severe structural damage.
Following the liberation of the areas, assessment teams from the Directorate of Education conducted field inspections to evaluate damage to school buildings. The surveys revealed widespread destruction caused by indiscriminate shelling, the use of schools as military positions by the SDF, and additional damage resulting from the 2023 earthquake.
Engineer Hossam Issa Lattouf, supervisor of the rehabilitation works, told SANA that engineering teams began technical studies one day after liberation. He said the schools had not received maintenance for years and that some buildings were partially or completely destroyed.
Work is also underway to assess the condition of twenty additional schools in the same neighborhood, in preparation for thier rehabilitation with government support or through allied organizations.
In parallel, teams from the Directorate of Education toured schools in the liberated eastern countryside to assess urgent needs. Officials said 68 schools were damaged in the Deir Hafer area and 103 schools in the Maskana area.
N.J
