UNICEF: Iraqi refugee students in Syria go back to school

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/syria_54186.html

DAMASCUS, Syrian Arab Republic, 6 July 2010 -- Gailan is a 16 -year-old Iraqi refugee living in Syria. Gailan has just worked a 16-hour shift in a textile factory. He snatches sleep as his two sisters ready themselves for school. Both girls have been studying since dawn -- determined to capitalize on the opportunities offered to Iraqis by a strained Syrian education system.

But with a 10-member family to support, education is a luxury that Gailan cannot afford.

"I hate it, but I am jealous of my sisters," he says. "Life is not comfortable for me, and it's unfair especially that I need to study and have to work because my family depends on me."

Financial constraints prevent a great many young Iraqis in Syria from studying. The gap in Gailan's own education is now five years -- an extended absence that is very difficult to bridge. To help get dropouts like him back into schooling, UNICEF and its partners -- including the European Union -- have initiated a programme of remedial classes and out-of-hours vocational workshops.

It is a programme of support for those who have a multitude of reasons for not attending school and one very powerful reason to return -- their desire.

"I am desperate for education," says Gailan. "Before, I wanted to be an engineer. Everybody loves to build their country. I want that chance again."

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• UNICEF
• Syria
• Iraq
• Children
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• protection
• education
• Gailan
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