The Situation of COVID-19 Generation in Schools of Al-Hasakah Governorate since March 2020/2021

The COVID-19 virus has spread across most parts of the world, directly affecting global economies at all levels. However, in poor countries, where the health and economic system is deteriorating without a pandemic like Covid 19, it has led to a forced disruption of all walks of life. Let alone a region that has been experiencing a civil war for more than a decade, and that suffers from siege, scarcity of economic resources, and drought in the areas of Northeastern Syria. The difficulty of dealing with this pandemic has led to the declaration of inability in the administration and the need to adopt quarantine in the world, and thus the educational process has stopped along with the rest of the fields of work. According to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore, “No matter where we live, the pandemic affects all of us and children have never been at so much risk. But worse is to come as the global economic crisis unfolds."

Al-Hasakah Governorate in Syria has a special status in light of Covid-19 crisis. The war damaged what was already destroyed in the infrastructure, and caused great social instability, due to migration, displacement and the raging war. This coincided with drought and the lack of local administrative expertise to manage daily problems, let alone managing a health crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. What has contributed to the increased risk is the local community's living conditions in Al-Hasakah Governorate and the impact of the pandemic on household and private sector budgets. As well as, its impact on school students, particularly with bodies who share relative control (the Self-Administration – the Syrian government) not providing the necessary medical services for schools and students.

Due to the weak health awareness in the region as a whole, misinformation about the infection and its effects quickly spread. This contributed to people neglecting health controls that were little deterrent to prevent the spread of infection. The local community maintained its social habits in family visits and meeting friends in large groups without using masks or maintaining healthy distance between individuals. People also believed that students and young people do not transmit the virus to each other, nor do they transmit it to the older age groups. UNICEF analysis of the Max Planck Institute database as of November 2020 shows that among the 87 countries included in the database with age disaggregated data, 11 per cent of the 25.7 million COVID-19 infections (54 per cent of the total global infections) are among children and adolescents under 20 years. Prevalence ranges from 1.13 per cent to 30 per cent across countries. Of these, 68 per cent occurred among adolescents ages 10–19, and 32 per cent among children ages 0–9.

Data available by sex in 63 of these 87 countries also suggest more infections occurred among males than females. As a precautionary and preventative measure, the Self-Administration has repeatedly adopted the comprehensive closure of the area. This includes partial and total lockdowns and their recurrence from March 2020 until the report was prepared. This included the prohibition of opening commercial markets, the closure of crossings, the shutting down of bus movement, with the exception of certain segments, like students, closing large markets and public facilities, and limiting the work of restaurants to delivery orders only.

Based on the data of the Self-Administration and daily observations, the virus is widespread throughout Al-Hasakah governorate. Therefore, the report will follow the different trends of students in different levels and segments of education, and the extent to which the student was harmed as a result of measures taken to combat the virus, in particular the economic impact and drop-out rate of transitional classes. In addition, the threat posed by the pandemic and how students at the preparatory and high school levels can deal with it. The research will be limited to schools in Qamishlo, which can be generalized to the remaining areas of Al-Hasakah governorate.


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