Minister of Education Hazwan al-Waz discussed on Sunday with Director of the Beirut-based UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States Hamad Bin Saif al-Hammami what has been accomplished in Aleppo city in terms of educaiton and the basic needs for maintaining the educational process in it after conducting a field visit by a joint delegation from the Ministry and UNESCO to the city.

During the meeting, al-Waz affirmed the importance of carrying out progressive evaluation of the educational situation in the city of Aleppo, especially the process of preparing schools and carrying out maintenance to assure that the schools are ready for the beginning of the next school year.

He pointed out that the number of schools that were repaired, equipped and opened in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo province reached 43 schools that received about 30 thousand students.

Al-Waz added that the Ministry, in cooperation with the UNESCO Bureau, had examined the damage to schools of the eastern neighborhoods and the Old City in addition to identifying the basic needs for reopening the schools whose infrastructure has been rehabilitated, noting that the Ministry also provided school books and distributing schoolbags that contain enough stationery for one year.

For his part, al-Hammami affirmed that the joint projects carried out with the Ministry are proceeding well, adding that the UNESCO will continue to provide everything possible to help Syria during this crisis, especially Aleppo.

He also expressed the UNESCO’s desire to develop its cooperation with the Syrian Ministry of Education continuously.