Students returned to classrooms in Syria on Sunday after new leaders ordered schools to reopen a week after rebels stormed the capital in a dramatic ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
The country’s new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Shara, faces the huge challenge of rebuilding Syria after 13 years of civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people have died. Cities have been destroyed, the economy has been destroyed by international sanctions, and millions of refugees are still living in camps outside of Syria.
Officials said most schools across the country opened on Sunday, the first day of the work week in most Arab countries. Some parents did not send their children to school because of the uncertainty of the situation.
Students waited cheerfully in the courtyard of Damascus Boys’ High School on Sunday morning and clapped as the school’s secretary, Raed Nasser, hung the new government’s flag.
“Everything is fine. We are fully equipped. We worked for two, three days to equip the school with the necessary services for the safe return of students to school,” Nasser said, adding that the Jawdat al Hashemi school was not damaged.
In one classroom, a student taped a new flag to the wall.
“I am optimistic and very happy,” said student Salah al Din Diab. “I walked down the street in fear of being called up for military service. I was afraid to go to the checkpoint.”
As Syria tries to rebuild, neighboring countries and other foreign powers have yet to take a new stance on the country, a week after the fall of the Iran- and Russia-backed Assad government.
Shara, better known by his rebel military name Abu Mohamed al Golani, leads Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that ousted Assad last week. HTS is an al Qaeda-allied group that has been designated a terrorist organization by many governments.
Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries met in Jordan on Saturday and agreed that the new government in Syria should respect the rights of minorities, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, Hina writes.
