After Shaddadi region was cleared of ISIS gangs on February 19, the Education Committee has started the efforts of opening schools for the 2016-2017 school year.

There are 101 primary, secondary and high schools in Shaddadi. 11 of the schools are in Shaddadi city, and the rest are in villages. 3 schools in Shaddadi were torn down in the clashes and are unusable right now. As of now, there are 5 primary schools, 3 secondary schools and high schools in the city center. And in the villages, there are 90 schools in total, 40 of which are primary schools.

Cizîrê Canton Education Committee held the opening ceremony of 45 more schools in Shaddadi yesterday.

No schools were opened in the region close to the border and across from the ISIS-invaded region for the children’s safety.

The Education Committee appointed 300 teachers to serve in the Shaddadi region.

The school repair work in Shaddadi city has not been completed yet. The door and window repairs are also still in progress.

Teacher Omer Elî spoke on the period before Shaddadi region was liberated. Elî said the people were uneducated due to the situation created by the ISIS mentality and continued: “ISIS gangs didn’t allow the children to go to school and they educated them from their own books. In the lessons given by the gangs, there were phrases like ‘Sifyan is helping his father to set up the bomb’. This shows that ISIS gangs use Islam religion for their own interests.”