introduction:
The Educational System in DeirEzzor Province collapsed after the entry of the Islamic state group into the province in July 2014, as the Islamic state closed the schools and prohibited teaching of the Syrian educational curricula, moreover distributed new curricula promoting its ideas.
Justice for life organization met Abu Mohammed (the witness asked for anonymity for security reasons ) , He is from DeirEzzor and has been displaced to Idlib province, He talked about what the Islamic state group has done to schools, teachers and students in DeirEzzor governorate.
Repentance courses for teachers:
About the treatment of the Islamic state with teachers Abu Mohamed says: “after the domination of the Islamic state group on the western countryside of DeirEzzor, the Islamic state asked teachers to repent under the pretext that they were teaching educational curricula that doesn’t commensurate with the Islamic law, furthermore, ordered them to stop teaching definitively”.
He continued: “The Islamic state summoned all the teachers in the western countryside in order to be subjected to repentance courses to seek forgiveness because they were teaching anti-sharia curricula before the entry of the Islamic state group, and those courses are convene in one of the mosques, after that the Islamic state set a date to subject the teachers to a legitimate course as a substitute for the teacher training institute, so they can be able to teach the new educational curricula released by the Islamic state, the Islamic state group abolished the old curriculum and prevented teachers from teaching it definitively, where the legitimate course lasted for two months”.
The closure of schools:
Abu Mohammed (witness), talked about the opening of the Islamic state group schools saying: “the Islamic state closed the schools immediately after taking control of DeirEzzor on the pretext that the existing curriculum is tyrannical ( is incompatible with the Islamic law), in addition to the existence of some illegitimate irregularities in schools, and kept the schools closed until the issuance of new instructions on education”.
Abu Mohammed continued: “after opening new schools, and imposing new educational curricula includes the Holy Quran, Creed, Monotheism, Mathematics and Reading (the majority of the new curriculum are legitimate books), the Islamic state closed the schools again after two months under the pretext of protecting students and teachers from the Aerial bombardment, but it turned out that the Islamic state group was unable to cover the expenses of the Education System, the Islamic state didn’t force the teachers to enroll in schools, therefore, some teachers joined and others didn’t for fear of being prosecuted later”.
The Schools of the Islamic State group:
The schools were like a platform to disseminate the ideas of the Islamic state and attract the students to join its ranks, Abu Mohammed says: “the Islamic state encouraged students to be convinced of its approach and join the camps of cubs through its curriculum and the visits of jurists to schools,( the cubs camps are dedicated to train children to fight and teach them the doctrine of the Islamic state group), the Islamic state divided the classrooms into classrooms allotted for males and classrooms for females, and that from the first grade to the fifth grade, which is the last grade in the educational stage, since the Islamic state didn’t open further stages”.
And about the local people reactions to the schools of the Islamic state and its curriculum Abu Mohammed says: “some parents refrained from sending their children to school for fear of the Islamic state notions being instilled in the minds of their children, whereas others sent their children to learn reading and writing”.
JFL Exclusive Photo of “Islamic State ” curriculums in Deir Ezzor
Abu Mohammed concludes his testimony to the Justice for Life organization saying: ” After the departure of the Islamic state group from DeirEzzor, the education system needs a lot of work to repair what the Islamic state has corrupted, and it is necessary to work on issuing a new curriculum totally far from violence and extremism, in order to prevent children from falling victim to ideas based on hatred they had learned from the curriculum of the Islamic state group”.
