Education

Improvement Objective

Syria needs for its citizens to be better educated.

Syria only has an 84.1% literacy rate. This is slightly lower than the world average of 86.1%.

Required Outcome

Five years after Syria’s war ends, 60% of school-aged Syrians will be enrolled in their respective levels of schooling.

In 2014, only 48% of Syria’s teens were enrolled in secondary school.

Strategies

The Syrian government will allocate funding for the creation and reparation of schools. As of October 2015, one-fourth of Syria’s schools were reported unusable.

The Syrian government will also place emphasis on the importance of education for both males and females. Beyond primary education, which is free and compulsory, males are almost always prioritized over females when families have to choose who will receive schooling for financial reasons. This is also supported by the gender gap in Syria’s literacy rate (male: 99.3%; females: 77.7%).

Support

Syria will receive humanitarian and financial aid in order to support the reparation of their schools from humanitarian programs such as UNICEF, “No Lost Generation,” and the European Union. Through the European Union, more than €335 million has already been mobilised to increase Syrian children’s access to education.

Responsibilities

Country:

Five years after Syria’s war ends, 60% of school-aged Syrians will be enrolled in their respective levels of schooling. “[Children of Syria need] education to foster their minds and build resilience.”

“More than five million Syrian children have been affected by this crisis. . .we must act now.”

Support:

Programs like UNICEF, “No Lost Generation,” and the European Union will guide and support the development of the Syrian educational system and help the ordinary citizens get to the point where they can focus on education.The European Union, one of the leading donors, has already contributed €4 billion to support the future of education for Syrians. The money goes towards humanitarian, development, economic, and stabilisation assistance, and it goes to the Syrians within their country and to the refugees outside of it in their neighbouring host countries.

Consequences

Failure to meet the required outcome will result in the cease of monetary aid provided by the aforementioned programs. The existing support is struggling to maintain their contribution, and if no improvement occurs, they will be forced to desist. “Far more financial support is needed to provide more children inside the Syrian Arab Republic with access to education. Of the US$33.4 million UNICEF needs for education assistance in the country, just under half, or US$16.5 million, has been received.”