East Ghouta changes school hours to avoid regime bombings

PENCILS DOWN: Students and teachers are hurried into the basement of a local school in the town of Deir al-Asafir in East Ghouta Tuesday after two regime airstrikes on a neighboring building caused damage to the school, killed two students and injured a number of others.

The bombs fell next to an elementary school in the village of Deir al-Asafir in East Ghouta on Tuesday, reported the pro-opposition All4Syria news outlet on Tuesday.

The bombing comes one month after the East Ghouta School Board ordered school hours begin earlier in order to avoid regime air strikes, Daya’a al-Din al-Qalash, member of the East Ghouta School Board told Syria Direct on Wednesday.

“In early February a decision was made for all schools in East Ghouta to begin their school days earlier in the morning to avoid children being killed,” he said.

The village of Deir al-Asafir is located between regime- and rebel-held positions, causing it to be targeted by regime strikes almost daily, Aboud Ayham, a citizen journalist in Dir al-Asafir told Syria Direct on Wednesday.

Other cities in East Ghouta have adopted the change as well. “The morning school schedule in the city of Douma begins at 6:30am and lasts for two hours, with the night schedule ending at 11:30pm,” Amin Kamel, a Douma-based activist told Syria Direct on Wednesday.

The state of emergency is not limited to schools. Health clinics in Douma have also limited their operating hours from 6am to 9am., Abu Adnan, the spokesman for Douma’s Unified Medical Office told Syria Direct on Wednesday.

Regime air strikes on Deir al-Asafir on Tuesday used precision-guided missiles and targeted gatherings of Jaish al-Islam fighters, reported the pro-regime Damascus Newson Tuesday.

Video courtesy of the Deir al-Asafir LCC.

-March 11, 2015

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