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The majority of schools in the city of Deir Ezzor have been destroyed and looted by the regime forces and other militants since the armed uprising began in the province of Deir Ezzor, consequently thousands of students were deprived of pursuing their studies in the region.
Some were looted and others were turned into military barracks
Most of the faculties in both of the regime and ISIS run neighbourhoods of Deir Ezzor city have become either wrecked or empty of students and teachers .The faculties and institutes, which had been under the rebels’ control and are run by ISIS now, were exposed to looting and destruction, among them are the faculty of Science, the faculty of petrochemistry, the manufacturing institute and the computer institute. On the other hand, a number of faculties and institutes in the Assad’s regime-run districts in Deir Ezzor city, were turned into military barracks, such as the faculty of law, the faculty of education and the old faculty of literature. In addition, some faculties like the ones of agriculture and literature, which are still open on regular bases, witness huge presence of Assad loyalists, which pushed the students to leave these faculties for fear of being randomly arrested .
The situation in the countryside is not good as well
Many schools in the rural areas of Deir Ezzor were looted and several students stopped going to their classrooms as the regime continues its aerial bombardments, which include schools among its targets. Some students left school as they are more inclined to work in order to support their needy families. Moreover, some schools were turned into shelters for the displaced families from Deir Ezzor city, whom their homes were destroyed by the regime’s airstrikes.
Education has changed for the worst after ISIS banned the old educational curriculum and issued a new one that suits its ideology. Teachers are required to declare their repentance and asked to swear never again to deal with the infidel regime in any form. ISIS also banned teaching private lessons.
Regarding universities, ISIS has banned some majors with respect to the political science, human sciences and chemistry while it focused on religious, Fiqh, and Sharia studies. It also imposed a fee estimated at around 10 dollars per student, and threatened those who refuse to send their sons to the ISIS-run universities, with severe punishment. It is worth mentioning that the organization prevented students from pursuing their studies in other provinces under the regime’s control. It has also opened the faculties of medicine in both of Raqqa and Mayadin, which act in accordance with ISIS’ ideology and agenda.