The part of Afrin’s Sherawa district, which is not under the occupation of Turkey, houses thousands of refugees from Afrin, who organize their lives under the most difficult conditions. For not only the constant threat and attacks by Turkey and its Islamist partners complicate life, but also the pressure of the regime forces, which are present in the east of the region. However, even if the situation is far from easy for people, the Democratic Society Education Committee (Komîteya Perwerdeya Civaka Demokratík, KPCD) is not deterred from organizing school education for the children and young people in the region.

Without any external support, the KPCD currently manages eleven elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools in Sherawa. Out of necessity some houses in the district were converted into schools. In these schools, not only Kurdish is taught, but Arabic-born students can also enjoy their lessons in their mother tongue.

ANF spoke to Zeyneb Gubari of the Democratic Society Education Committee in Sherawa about the challenges of schooling since Afrin was occupied by the Turkish state in violation of international law.

A lot has changed since the occupation

Gubari tells us that there was a working education system in Sherawa before the occupation. However, the flight of displaced people from Afrin has changed the situation greatly. In addition, the areas in Sherawa, which are not occupied, are exposed to permanent attacks by the Turkish army and its jihadist allies.

"With these attacks the local people are meant to be expelled. But despite all attacks and pressures, we have developed our education system and are even more committed to school education. We visited all the villages here last year and thus won over students for lessons. That's how we opened our schools. As the number of refugees increased, we also needed new school buildings. So we went in search of big houses and buildings. That's how we got the problems under control," says Gubari.

Arabic language lessons

In order to catch up on lessons, but also to train teachers, educational cycles of the KPCD took place during the summer holidays. Gubari also sees schooling as an important measure to heal the psychological wounds of children who have suffered traumatic experiences during the occupation of Afrin.

There are currently 157 teachers working in Sherawa, 14 of whom teach Arabic. In addition, classes have been opened for Arab students who have taken refuge with their families in the Dircemil, Ziyaret and Shehba refugee camps in the region. These children are provided with native-language school education as the Kurdish students.

In total, around 450 pupils attend the eleven elementary schools in the region. The three middle schools are attended by around 200 students and at the two high schools there are about 70 students. In addition to Kurdish and Arabic, English is also taught in schools, Gubari explains.

Continuous Turkish attacks

Gubari points out that the Turkish attacks on Sherawa are not coming to an end. Again and again rockets are fired into the immediate vicinity of schools. "Of course, that has a disturbing effect on the students. Often the teachers have to spend days trying to reassure the children. We had to convince the parents again to send their children to the schools. For example, the village of Sixuneke is repeatedly attacked. That's why we had to dissolve the school there and distribute the students to other schools," she tells.

The education committee only receives support for teaching materials from the autonomous administration. There is no help from international aid organizations.

Another serious problem is the situation in the villages of Bircqasê, Kilotê, Gundê Mezin and Başemre. These villages are cut off from the rest of Sherawa. In order to get into these villages, people have to pass areas controlled by the regime. And there is an acute lack of teachers especially in the schools of the villages.

"We try to help and send teachers from here. But the regime arbitrarily closes the road, making it impossible to reach the villages. We are also struggling with such problems," added Gubari.