Every morning at 8 AM, the sounds of children fill the air in Sabah-Al-Khair, a small village in northeast Syria. 150 students gather in their classrooms, learning at new desks and blackboards after years of disruption. Just a few years ago, this very school was a battleground.
A school turned war zone
In 2017, while ISIS controlled large parts of northeast Syria, the school in Sabah-Al-Khair was used as a military base. The surrounding battles left the school heavily damaged, and after the village’s liberation, a hidden explosive device planted by ISIS detonated inside the building. The explosion claimed the lives of two children and two young men, including a four-year-old boy named Musa.
Sabah-Al-Khair is in one of Syria’s poorest regions. By 2025, an estimated 16.5 million out of 23.7 million Syrians will need humanitarian aid. Over 94% of households in northeast Syria live in extreme poverty, where even those with jobs struggle, the average monthly salary is just €90, far from enough to meet basic needs.
Rebuilding for a better future
Determined to restore hope, DCA Syria launched a mine-clearing operation in May 2024. By June, the team had safely removed 45 explosive devices, including a landmine. By September 2024, DCA’s shelter team had completed the school’s reconstruction, allowing the village’s children to return to education for the first time in nearly a decade.
Despite the school’s reopening, only 70% of children in Sabah-Al-Khair and nearby villages attend classes. Many start working as young as six years old, and by the age of 12, they have no access to further education, given that the closest school is six kilometers away, with no transport options.
For the residents of Sabah-Al-Khair, education remains a beacon of hope. From 2015 to 2024, no child in the village attended school. Now, parents and teachers see education as the key to development in a region struggling with extreme poverty.
Still, for Sabah-Al-Khair’s children, the school’s reopening is more than just a building. It’s a chance for a future beyond war and hardship.
- Explore DCA’s demining effort in Syria.
In northeast Syria alone, 749 hazardous areas cover 38 million m².
About the project:
Full title: Creating Safer Communities and Enabling Safe and Sustainable Returns, Encouraging Stabilization and Early Recovery in Ar-Raqqa, Northeast Syria (NES)
Theme: Saving Lives
Period: September 2022 – June 2024
Amount: 4.5 million EUR
Number of people reached by end of the project: 26,182
Donor: The European Union
