Children in Homs inspire their teachers to continue supporting their education journey
UNICEF’s ‘Curriculum B’ programme helps students catch up on missed learning during the summer with help from inspirational educators
“I was out-of-school for five years,”
Albayada neighbourhood, Homs, central Syria, August 2021 – The continued spread of COVID-19 in Syria has called an early end to the past school year, further disrupting children’s education – already burdened by a decade of conflict. To help children to continue learning, this summer, UNICEF has reached them with its ‘Curriculum B’ programme, through summer classes. The accelerated learning programme, combining two academic years in one, allows children who missed out on periods of education to catch up with their peers and fill their learning gaps in half the required time. The programme is divided into three levels, covering Grades 1 to 6.
“I wish for them to live their childhood, and this work is helping realize one of their basic rights; education,”
“It’s more than a curriculum, it is a way of giving children their confidence back,” says Hamida, who teaches UNICEF’s Curriculum B at Escandarona school, in Albayada neighbourhood of Homs. Hamida, a teacher for more than 30 years, has been able to witness the progress children have made during two months of summer classes.
“These children have been hit hard by violence and displacement. Providing them with education, a valuable asset for life, helps them regain a sense of normalcy. These children have developed both educationally and socially,” she adds. Interaction with teachers and peers in a classroom environment has helped the children recover missing bits of their education while also making them feel included, doing what other children their age would normally do. “I thought I was the one motivating them to come to school until I began to see how eager they were each morning to attend the classes.”
“I worked with her step by step every day, and after a little while, I started noticing a positive shift in her attitude toward learning."
Like Hamida, Rusia, 35, another Curriculum B programme teacher at Escandarona school, has seen the difference that two months of the programme made for children. “At the beginning of the summer course, 12-year-old Yasmeen, would look disinterested during class. She’d been out of school for some time and, thus, had difficulty picking up some of the content of the programme,” says Rusia about one of her students in Level 2 of the programme. Rusia was challenged, yet equally determined, to support Yasmeen. “I worked with her step by step every day, and after a little while, I started noticing a positive shift in her attitude toward learning. She also worked hard to improve her handwriting, and she did well with that!”
“I learned how to spell, read and write,”
“I learned how to spell, read and write,” says Yasmeen, who was internally displaced with her family in Rukban, a remote desert camp by the Syrian Jordanian border, a few years ago before returning to Albayada neighbourhood in 2018. Yasmeen liked coming to the summer classes to learn, make new friends and play. Influenced by her teachers, like Rusia, she wants to become a teacher in the future.
"I think education is one of the most important rights children must access,”
Like most of her summer students at Escandarona school, Majd, 42, has been through multiple displacements. The arts teacher fled with her family from their home in Alqusayr, southwest of Homs, for safety to Aleppo, Ar-Raqqa and then Hama. They returned to Homs two years ago, following a respite in violence. “I wish for them to be always safe,” she says about her students. “It’s very important for me that they leave these summer classes with new information about various subjects. I think education is one of the most important rights children must access,” Majd adds.
"School here is way batter than in Rukban, I really benefit from the information I get, and the teachers are kind,”
Safa, 11, Majida, 12, and Nour, 11, are three friends who were displaced with their families from Homs due to violence. They took shelter in Rukban for about seven years. Three years ago, their families returned home to Homs as violence subsided. Having been out of school for more than a year, because of displacement, they enrolled in the Curriculum B programme to catch up on their missed education. “School here is way batter than in Rukban, I really benefit from the information I get, and the teachers are kind,” says Majida, who dreams of becoming a doctor when she completes her studies. Nour, who wants to become a cardiologist when she grows up, is passionate about English and mathematics. “My brother helps me study at home,” she says. And Nour also wishes to continue her learning. She wants to become an Arabic teacher in the future
“I focus on motivating the children and adapting the curriculum to their needs"
Using Curriculum B as a basis, teachers in Escandarona have catered the programme to the needs of the children, taking into consideration their skillsets and levels. “Even in the same level of the programme, not all children are the same. Each one has his or her own abilities and speed to absorb information,” says Ferjah, 55, another Curriculum B teacher at Escandarona school. “I focus on motivating the children and adapting the curriculum to their needs while ensuring they get the basic information they require.”
In Homs, this summer, with thanks to a generous contribution from Educate A Child (EAC), UNICEF has reached more than 2,000 students, in 30 schools across the governorate, through its Curriculum B accelerated learning programme, delivered to the students with the help of over 150 teachers.
