105 學年度學測英文 第 50 題

Ongoing conflicts across the Middle East have prevented more than 13 million children from attending school, according to a report published by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The report states that 40% of all children across the region are currently not receiving an education, which is a result of two consequences of violence: structural damage to schools and the displacement of populations, also called “forced migration.” Both issues result from the tide of violence that has crossed the region in recent years. The report examines nine countries where a state of war has become the norm. Across these countries, violence has made 8,500 schools unusable. In certain cases, communities have relied on school buildings to function as shelters for the displaced, with up to nine families living in a single classroom in former schools across Iraq.

The report pays particularly close attention to Syria, where a bloody civil war has displaced at least nine million people since the war began in 2011. With the crisis now in its fifth year, basic public services, including education, inside Syria have been stretched to breaking point. Within the country, the quality and availability of education depends on whether a particular region is suffering violence.

The report concludes with an earnest request to international policymakers to distribute financial and other resources to ease the regional crisis. With more than 13 million children already driven from classrooms by conflict, it is no exaggeration to say that the educational prospects of a generation of children are in the balance. The forces that are crushing individual lives and futures are also destroying the prospects for an entire region.