Nurturing Young Dreams in Syria

ECW support for a UNICEF early childhood education programme enables young children to get a head start on learning in Syria

By Education Cannot Wait

November 27^th, 2023

Adapted Story from the Field. Special Contribution by UNICEF Syrian Arab Republic (Original).

“I want to become a pilot and own an airplane. But for now, I am happy with the bicycle.” ~Dia, 6

Despite over a decade of war and uncertainty, young children in Tal-Aran, Syria still dream of a brighter future — and early childhood education equips them with the tools to make it a reality.

Children like six-year-old Dia, his siblings Ahmad and Ritaj, and friend Mariam dream of becoming pilots, police officers, teachers and doctors. Born into a brutal conflict, safe and inclusive education opportunities can be few and far between – especially early childhood education.

Since the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2012, attacks on schools and shocks to the national economy have continued to disrupt education for children and youth. Thanks to support from Education Cannot Wait (ECW) – the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises – and UNICEF Syria, young crisis-affected children like Dia are able to enter the classroom early and get a head start on achieving their dreams.

Dia, 6, rides his bicycle through his neighborhood. Photo Credit: UNICEF Syria/May Saad

The value of early childhood education

Millions of crisis-affected children around the world are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential, in part, due to a lack of access to proper early childhood education during critical formative years.

Yasser Hemidy, an education officer with UNICEF Syria, says that early childhood education “supports children in starting their first grade of primary education smoothly and introduces them to the learning environment.” Despite the critical importance of this stage of education, ECW estimates that in past years, less than .5% of total official development assistance to education in crisis-affected countries went to early childhood education. ECW and partners are working to change that.

These new UNICEF-implemented early childhood education programmes are run out of local community centres in rural Aleppo, close and easily accessible to families with young children. Parents and children alike are excited for the opportunity to participate safely in early educational activities in Syria.

“My two younger siblings will start going to summer school! It is the first time they will go to school. It is very close to our house, so my parents don’t have to worry about them. They’re excited for them.” ~Dia

Mariam sits in front of the community centre where she attends an early childhood education programme with Dia. Photo Credit: UNICEF Syria/May Saad

Girls dream big

The programme ensures that children like five-year-old Mariam, who attends class with Dia, are set up for success by teaching life skills like literacy and numeracy. The centres also provide a wide range of educational activities, and students look forward to participating each day.

“I want to become a doctor. I think girl doctors are cool. I know how to pronounce the alphabet but not how to write it. I will learn how to do so here.” ~Mariam, 5

Dia’s sister, Ritaj, 4, can’t wait to follow in her big brother’s footsteps. “My older brother has a backpack and goes to school. Now, I will do the same,” she says. She knows that to pursue her dream of teaching others, she needs to go to school herself.

“I want to become an Arabic teacher. But now it is too early because I don’t have enough information about teaching. In the future, I will. I might teach at this centre.” ~Ritaj, 4

Four-year-old Ritaj is excited to go to school with her big brother, Dia. Photo Credit: UNICEF Syria/May Saad

Just looking at her future school fills Ritaj with excitement. The outer walls of the centre she and her younger brother Ahmad will soon attend are blue – Ahmad’s favorite color. “Inside they’re pink, it is my favorite color!”

Three-year-old Ahmad, Dia and Ritaj’s youngest sibling, wants to become a police officer one day.

“This is my school. I will come here with my sister. I want to study to become a police officer in the future, so I can stop people from doing bad things.” ~Ahmad, 3

Dia and Ritaj's youngest brother, Ahmad, in front of the community centre. Photo Credit: UNICEF Syria/May Saad

Children at risk

The conflict in Syria has led to the internal displacement of millions, and over five million people qualifying as refugees in the region. Children account for half of that population. This humanitarian crisis further worsened in early 2023 following a devastating earthquake in northwestern Syria which killed more than 30,000 people, impacted over 2,000 school buildings and pushed even more vulnerable children out of school. In response, ECW announced a First Emergency Response grant of US$7 million to provide life-saving education to children affected by the earthquake.

Early childhood education is just one component of ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Syria. The multi-year investment in the country also supports teacher training and the construction of educational facilities. Additionally, ECW investments bolster mental health and psychosocial support for children and youth dealing with extreme stress and trauma from the ongoing conflict.

ECW’s whole-of-child approach has reached over 400,000 children in Syria to date with the protection, opportunity and hope of a holistic, quality education. ECW and strategic partners call on donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and national and international partners to step-up and fully fund this multi-year programme.

Together, we can help make the dreams of crisis-affected children like Dia, Mariam, Ritaj and Ahmad come true.

Ritaj and her younger brother, Ahmad, in front of the community centre. Photo Credit: UNICEF Syria/May Saad

Access high-resolution photos from this story and our full media library on ECW’s FLICKR.

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