UNICEF: A lost generation in Middle East without schools

AMMAN, Jordan, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A UNICEF report Thursday said over 13 million children have been driven from school by war and political turmoil in the Middle East.

The report noted nearly 9,000 schools are out of use in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya because of destruction or their converted use into shelters. Forty percent of the school-age population in those countries and in affected areas of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Sudan and the Palestinian Territories are "a generation of schoolchildren who see their hopes and futures shattered," it said. It added the situation is made worse by teachers afraid to enter schools and parents unwilling to send children from the relative safety of their homes.

"Their educational achievements are going to be quite low. These are the future professionals in these societies," Dr. Peter Salama, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, told the New York Times. He added children who should be in school are instead often in hazardous jobs, or in the military.

"In the past there was child recruitment, but it tended to be older boys in noncombat roles. That has really changed in the last year or two. We are on the verge of a lost generation of kids."

The report suggests initiatives, including self-learning curricula, but adds that needs exceed funding, even though parents impacted by the various conflicts in the Middle East cite education as their highest priority.