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Children Return to War-Torn Schools in Lebanon and Yemen
Confirmed
In Short: In Lebanon, children in the south are returning to schools that were destroyed or damaged by Israeli airstrikes during the recent conflict.
Teacher Hoda Najdi, 42, emphasized to her students the importance of continuing their education despite the difficult circumstances.
"My home was destroyed and so was my school... (but) the students give us the strength and will to continue," Najdi told AFP.
In Yemen, 10-year-old Rafeef and her younger brother face a perilous journey to school in Taiz, a city on a front line in the civil war.
"The situation may explode at any moment while we are sitting in class or sleeping or we are in school or we are out on the street. We do not know how our future is and how tomorrow is," Rafeef said.
According to Unicef, roughly 3.2 million children in Yemen were out of school even before the war escalated last month.
In Lebanon, around 250 students are registered in the 24-classroom school in Burj Qalaway, which used to have at least 600 school-goers before the start of the latest war in March.
"There is sadness in their eyes, each one of them has a story," school principal May Mehdi told AFP.
"We are happy to be back (to school), but we were happier before. We used to draw, play, but now there are no desks or chairs," a young girl with braided hair said.
In some schools in the south that have been converted into shelters, displaced people and students now share the space, with floors reserved for each group.
"I had no books, no phone and no Internet" to follow lessons online, a student said.
"I remembered the activities we used to do, I remembered how stressful exams were... and I remembered my friend who was killed" by an Israeli strike, another student said.
What this adds
The situation in Lebanon and Yemen highlights the ongoing challenges faced by children in conflict zones, including the destruction of educational infrastructure and the psychological impact of living in a war zone.
What's confirmed
- “We are happy to be back (to school), but we were happier before. We used to draw, play, but now there are no desks or chairs,” the young girl with braided hair said as she climbed a bare concrete staircase.
- The students come from areas heavily hit by Israeli attacks and most were displaced during the war, with some — like Ajami — returning to find their homes damaged or destroyed. - ‘Sadness in their eyes’ - “There is sadness in their eyes, each one of them has a story,” school principal May Mehdi told AFP from the courtyard.
- “But I am happy they are here,” she said, showing on her phone what the school, her pride, once looked like.
- Around 250 students are registered in the 24-classroom school, which used to have at least 600 school-goers before the start of the latest war in March, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of Tehran, following US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic.
- Israel responded with major airstrikes and a ground invasion that killed more than 4,300 people, including 261 children according to Lebanese authorities.
- Lebanese authorities accuse Israel of systematically destroying villages in the south, including homes, schools, places of worship and water and electricity infrastructure. - ‘Destruction, insecurity, displacement’ - Many of Burj Qalaway’s children were unable to start the school year, being still displaced or fearing to return to the town, less than a kilometer (mile) away from Israeli troops occupying a swathe of the south.
- Earlier this month, UNICEF said that nearly 100,000 students in Lebanon were unable to return to their schools for the academic year due to “damage, destruction, insecurity, or displacement”.
- Government-funded prefabricated units are being installed on the school premises where rubble has not yet been cleared. - ‘Make my father proud’ - Teacher Hoda Najdi gave her class while emphasising to her students the importance of continuing their education and achieving good results despite the difficult circumstances.
- “My home was destroyed and so was my school... (but) the students give us the strength and will to continue,” the 42-year-old told AFP.
- South Lebanon children return to school destroyed by Israel strike Arab News PK Arab News Arab News JP Arab News FR Tuesday.
- Well known in the area for its excellence, Ajami’s elementary school in Burj Qalaway was struck by Israel in May, two months after Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking its southern neighbor.
- Rather than go to their old school building, Ajami and the other students returning to classes after the summer break on Monday were diverted to a nearby structure still under construction that was being built to house preschoolers.
What's still developing
- It says thousands of children have been killed or maimed since the war began in 2014, while thousands more have been recruited by armed groups on both sides.
- Rafeef says the journey to school terrifies her, but she is determined to keep going Every morning at 6am, 10-year-old Rafeef and her younger brother get ready for school, putting on their cream and brown uniforms.
- But for Rafeef, the journey to school involves far greater risks than crossing roads or missing the bus.
- Her school in Taiz, south-western Yemen, stands on a mountain at the edge of a valley known as no-man's land - a heavily contested front line in the civil war between forces supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Iran-backed Houthis.
- On one side of the school is government-held territory, on the other are Houthi sniper positions.
- Every time she goes to school, she has to walk uphill with her back towards the snipers.
- Going to school is the only time Rafeef's parents let her go outside.
- "What did this child or his family ever do wrong?"
- Two children were among four people killed when a school minibus was hit by a train after appearing to plow through a barrier at a level crossing in northern Belgium on Tuesday morning, police said.
- Five more children were seriously injured during the incident and are now in stable condition in hospital, De Wilde said.
- A Houthi grip on the strait’s Yemeni shore turns that bypass into a hostage.
- Students from schools in high-risk areas are to be accommodated at schools farther from the front, allowing them to return to in-person classes.