80 schools in northern Syria close down

Children of displaced families living in an abandoned damaged school building, play in the yard in Binnish in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, on March 2, 2021 [OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images]

As many as 80 schools in northern Syria closed on Saturday leaving hundreds of school children without access to an education, after dozens of volunteer teachers went on a strike to protest against not receiving their salaries for nearly three years.

The teachers who work in schools in the governorates of Idlib and Hama said in a statement: “We, the volunteers, announce that we will no longer work in schools until our rights are secured, which is at least a monthly salary to help us overcome the difficult living conditions and support ourselves.”

“This step is heartbreaking because we know the consequences on our children, but we can no longer bear more than what we have been through, as we have volunteered for more than three years,” the statement read.

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