Education Ministry continues renovation of destroyed schools in Damascus Countryside

Damascus Countryside, SANA-Ministry of Education is continuing its efforts to renovate schools that had been destroyed due to the shelling by the deposed regime, aiming to provide a safe and healthy educational environment for students and to rehabilitate the educational system in Syria.

SANA’s camera visited Saqba Girls’ School and Douma Boys’ School in Rural Damascus, both of which are being renovated under the ministry’s supervision in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the “Wifak” humanitarian organization. Officials and supervisors of the renovation projects explained the progress being made.

Engineer Mohammad al-Hanoon, the Director of School Buildings, stated that 26 schools are currently being renovated in Damascus Countryside out of a total of 207 schools that are out of service in the governorate.

Al-Hanoon explained that the ministry has assessed the needs of 1,411 schools and has begun renovating 260 schools across different governorates.

Engineer Ghufran Hammoud, the renovation supervisor at Saqba Girls’ School, mentioned that the school was handed over to the implementing organization to commence work.

The ongoing efforts include removing rubble from the school yard, reinforcing structural elements and classroom roofs, restoring the school wall, applying internal and external plaster, painting the walls, installing protective metal works, and extending electrical wiring throughout the building.

In turn, Akram Khayti, the renovation supervisor at Douma Boys’ School, pointed out that one of the buildings had completely collapsed due to the shelling by the ousted regime, leaving the school in severe ruin and unusable.

He added that specialized teams have been working to clear debris from the schoolyard and demolish walls that are at risk of collapse, paving the way for rebuilding the infrastructure and preparing the school for use again.

Manar Salameh/Ruaa al-Jazaeri