Schools Rehabilitation in Idlib

Idlib governorate has about 650 restored schools back in service, according to figures reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) as the 2026 school year opened on 6 September. Reopenings under the "Wafa li-Idlib" campaign continued through April, June and early September.

September: 650 Schools and a New School Year

SANA reported on 6 September that more than 540,000 students headed to schools across the governorate. Idlib's Director of Education said the number of schools rose from about 1,800 to about 1,900 compared with last year, and that 100 schools entered service during the year, some newly established and others restored. He said student numbers rose by about 40,000 as displaced families returned to their home areas.

The agency added that the Ministry of Education had opened 50 schools in the southern, eastern and northern countryside of Idlib the previous Thursday, 3 September, under the campaign, after restoration works and the supply of basic teaching materials. It put the number of schools restored and returned to service at 650. SANA's English service reported the same figure from Idlib's Directorate of Education on 21 September.

April: 32 Schools Reopened

On 14 April, SANA reported that Idlib's Directorate of Education had reopened 32 schools across rural areas after full rehabilitation, with support from the Wafa li-Idlib campaign fund. Idlib's governor said about 580 schools had been reopened in the governorate to that date. The campaign's executive director said the 32 were added to 40 opened earlier in the year, and that more than 100 schools were still under restoration. The Director of Education said the reopening would give more than 10,000 students a safe learning environment after they returned with their families from displacement, and stressed that efforts to restore the remaining schools would continue.

June: 50 Schools and Dhi Qar Secondary School

On 20 June, Idlib Governorate held a central event in Kafrnabel to mark the reopening of 50 restored schools, attended by the Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management and the governor. The event started at Dhi Qar Secondary School, where works covered more than 800 square metres of floor space, 21 classrooms, two administrative rooms and a laboratory, along with doors, windows, painting, the courtyard and garden, the perimeter wall and the planting of 85 trees. The director of the Rahma Around the World foundation in the United States said the foundation supported the restoration of the school.

National Context

Syria TV reported in November 2025 that the Ministry of Education put the share of destroyed schools nationwide at about 40%, while UNICEF data pointed to between 2.5 million and 3 million children out of school.