Four years on, Jordanian principal champions Syrian refugees

IRBID (NRC) — If life has taught Suhair Abdulhadi, 50, anything, it has taught her “you cannot blame someone for wanting to live”.

She continues to write; needing a new pen every couple of minutes as ideas rush through her head.

“Imagine when you have people, they come to you, they have lost their homes, their lives and often their loved ones. They have lost their country and they have no money, no way to live; many women do not have their husbands, they have to search for work to take care of their children; you have to feel for them,” she says.

Abdulhadi is an unassuming, mild mannered school principal. Married with nine children of her own, she jokes that she actually has more than 400 children with the students at her girls’ school.

She works as a school principal in Al Taibeh, Irbid, around 100 kilometres north of Amman.

Abdulhadi’s school is one of hundreds of public schools in Jordan that have adopted a second, late shift to accommodate the rising number of Syrian refugees who need schooling, as the crisis enters its fifth year.

She is determined to help find another school for Syrian refugees living in her area. “We need a boys’ school, too; this one is not enough.”  

UNHCR says that more than 140,000 registered Syrian refugees have now sought temporary refuge in Irbid Governorate.

Last December, Wadah Hmoud, director of the Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate, said the government needs 72 more schools to accommodate the numbers of Syrian refugees living in urban areas.

At the end of the 2014, there were more than 278,000 Syrian refugee children of school age —according to UNICEF and education actors —who are at risk of missing out on education.

“Many Syrians were on the waiting list; more than 200 children who risked missing out on the school year, so I pushed as much as I could,” Abdulhadi says.

The Ministry of Education is working hard to meet the needs of such large numbers of additional students as well as ensure that Jordanian students continue to be able to receive quality education in the face of overcrowded classrooms, limited resources and wider tensions within host communities.

This year the government, together with international and local partners, has appealed for more than $256 million under the Jordan Response Plan, to meet the needs of all school-aged children in the country.

Abdulhadi has also worked with her community to do more. She initiated a local campaign through word of mouth, and collected clothes with her fellow teachers and neighbours to donate them to Syrian students.

“It all started this winter; a student was wearing flip-flops, torn clothes and no jacket mid-winter. We cannot let that happen. Respecting our guests is a Jordanian value,” she says.

‘Show them love’

Abdulhadi’s public school is one example of cooperation between the Education Ministry and international actors including the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), UNICEF, the EU and the German Development Bank, to make school a better place for Syrian and Jordanian students.

New classrooms, new toilets and school supplies are among the things she needs. “Now I am in discussion with NRC to have them help us with school picnics and zoo visits for our students. The children need this, too… You have to show them love.”

Abdulhadi believes a lot can be done by simply listening. “I have personally stopped more than 10 children from leaving the school, by simply talking to them and their families; education is definitely the most important thing for a child’s future, especially during [formative] years.”

She also helped design a specialised programme to make sure all vulnerable students — Syrian and Jordanian alike — stay in school.

“I think we should focus on all children but also make sure that Syrian children, who have seen so much, feel safe. Make them feel welcome, not rejected. They can help themselves and the country they are in, their country now [Jordan], if they feel safe and secure.”

Abdulhadi says her husband taught her how to love Al Taibah, which is now home to her.

“I will be here until there are enough schools for all students.”