Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
Filmed on May 18, 2021.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The first kindergarten to operate since 2014 was opened in Shingal on Tuesday.
On the first day, 50 children were enrolled in preschool education.
The kindergarten was opened by a local NGO called Sunrise, under the supervision of the Directorate for Arabic Education.
The school can welcome up to 200 students, aged five to 12 years old. Older students are attending as they were unable to access education for the past seven years, either because of displacement or captivity.
“When they told me about the idea, I gave them my direct support,” said Saad Hamid Mato, the director of Arabic education in Shingal. “I made use of this ready-made building for the kindergarten.”
"It’s really necessary to have a kindergarten in Shingal at this time,” he added. “I gave them permission and the minister of education supported the idea.
Some of the children are survivors of Islamic State (ISIS) captivity and still suffer from trauma.
“ISIS persecuted the children a lot, they hurt us a lot,” said Firas Abbas, a child survivor of ISIS. “They used to shoot us and killed thousands of us, they use to stomp their on us.”
“If you go and search, every single family in Shingal has been damaged,” said Parishan Jamal, another child survivor. “We are now very pleased the kindergarten has been opened.”
The school provides both Muslim and Yazidi children with free education.
“Sunrise Organization has done this work,” said Khalaf Hussein, the head of the NGO. “All of our funds are provided by the Shingal Education Directorate. We are trying to get more funds from charity foundations to keep the kindergarten open.”
Reporting by Tahsin Qasim
Translating and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment