Syrian State’s care for martyrs’ families

Syria on May 26th, 2021, succeeded in holding presidential elections as a result of which Presidential Candidate, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, was declared winner with 95,1 % of votes. However, had it not been for the sacrifices of the martyrs, who offered their souls to safeguard the country’s dignity, unity and independence, Syria would not have been able to hold these elections due to internal and external challenges.

Over the past decades, Syria has offered a lot of martyrs in the confrontation of foreign colonialism and occupation, but the past decade witnessed the loss of hundreds of thousands of martyrs in a heinous terrorist war waged against Syria by its enemies, leaving bereaved mothers, wives and children.

Syria, led previously by late leader Hafez Al-Assad and currently by President Bashar Al-Assad, has accorded special attention to martyrdom as a noble value that should be taught and honored. Thus, caring for the martyrs families, particularly their children, has been a top priority of the Syrian state, starting from its faith that these children are a trust left by their fathers.

 To shed light on the Syrian government’s care for martyrs’ children, Syria Times e-newspaper interviewed Director General of Martyrs’ Sons and Daughters’ Schools Establishment, Ms. Shahira Fallouh, who talked about this establishment as an example of the Syrian state’s keenness on appreciating the sacrifices of Syria’s martyrs, whom late President Hafez Al-Assad described as the noblest and the most generous of all.

Homelands are protected and built with the sacrifices of martyrs

“This establishment was founded by late leader Hafez Al-Assad as a unique experience of its kind in the world with the aim of honoring the martyrs through supporting their children. After President Bashar Al-Assad came to power he followed in the steps of his father in caring for the martyrs’ families and helped the schools continue their noble educational work,” said Mama Shahira, as martyrs’ children, even the older ones, like to call her.

The great attention given to martyrs’ children by President Bashar Al-Assad has given the schools great credibility as he considered martyrdom a sublime message and a necessity to protect and build the homeland, she added.

Wide variety of services

According to Ms. Shahira, the two schools- one of them for the martyrs’ daughters and the other for the martyrs’ sons, provide the students with quality free education, starting from nursery school age to high school age, in addition to all requirements of their study. The schools also provide free internal stay and related services, including beds, food, clothes and all life requirements. Moreover, the students follow a free scientific, artistic, sport and cultural educational program supervised by a qualified teaching and administrative staff with the aim of enriching the student’s knowledge.

After completing their study at these schools, most distinguished students are granted a specific number of seats in each faculty of the Syrian universities, she said, indicating that many of these students have become doctors, engineers and effective members in society.

She went on to say that “in order to encourage students to complete their study, we used in the past to send students to eastern Germany to complete their studies, but after the crisis in Syria, we signed agreements with Russia on granting scholarships for martyrs’ children in our  schools.”

She clarified that one of the agreements provides for sending eight Syrian students from the fifth grade to Russia every year to continue their studies at the Russian cadet schools for free. After returning to Syria these students will become military leaders, she said.

Also, a number of Syrian children from these schools are sent for recreation in Russia, Croatia and Belarus every year, where the students hold various distinguished cultural activities, she added. 

In the light of the increasing number of martyrs in Syria, the schools of martyrs sons and daughters have faced difficulties in enrolling all the children of martyrs, particularly because the two schools’ capacity is only 1700 students, Ms. Shahira clarified, noting that future plans are being discussed by concerned parties to solve this problem through either integrating the martyrs’ children into ordinary schools or building new schools for martyrs’ children in other Syrian provinces.

She made it clear that many families of martyrs seek to enroll their children in these schools because they find difficulties in securing a descent life for them in the light of the difficult economic conditions in the country that are caused by the terrorist war on Syria.

Early this year, President Al-Assad awarded Ms. Shahira the Syrian Order of Merit of the Excellent Degree in appreciation of her national career in addition to her great efforts in caring for the sons and daughters of martyrs at the humanitarian, social and educational levels.

Commenting about this award, she said that President Al-Assad supports all whose work has to do with martyrs’ children and this gesture aimed at appreciating the work of all the staff at the martyrs’ sons and daughters’ schools. 

On behalf of the martyrs’ sons and daughters, Ms. Shahira voiced support for President Bashar Al-Assad’s leadership and expressed optimism that he will lead the country towards a brighter future.

The state that honors its martyrs at war times is a great state  

On his own experience in the Martyrs’ sons’ schools, Al-Mouhannad Kalthoum, a film director and the son of martyr Mohammad Kalthoum, a pilot in the Syrian army air force, told Syrian Times that his study at the school has been one of the most wonderful experiences in his life, because that period of time was full of energy, life, creativity and giving. 

“I have memories in every corner of the school where I received quality education. The school’s theater witnessed my first theatrical performance within the martyrs’ son’s schools band for theater,” Kalthoum, 39, said, pointing out that “this experience has positively developed my personality and made me a person with a passion for knowing about arts, particularly the cinema.”

 According to Kalthoum, these beautiful memories indicate the Syrian state’s support for martyrs’ children and reverence for martyrdom, stressing that the state that can honor its martyrs by its highest authority at war times is a great state.

“I completed my study at this school in 1999, then I travelled to Ukraine for university study where I obtained a Masters Degree in film directing from Kharkiv governmental academy and then I returned to the school of the martyrs’ sons in Syria as a kind of loyalty to the place where I was brought up and studied. Here, I began to work with other martyrs’ sons in implementing cultural and cinematic training projects, including “Yallah Cinema”, “Damascus Cinema Days for children and Youths Short Films” and “Art City” which all target talented martyrs’ son and daughters with the aim of developing their personalities and teaching them different forms of arts.

On her part, Shereen Al-Hasan, wife of martyr lieutenant Ahed Fahed Ibrahim from Hama, said that her husband was martyred in 2019 in Tibet Al-Imam town in Hama when he alongside his comrades were repelling a huge terrorist attack on a military camp that contained 45 soldiers. She pointed out that she enrolled her daughter in the martyrs’ daughters’ schools because it is famous for the great services it provides for martyrs children, including free education, food, entertainment, healthcare among others.

She thanked President Al-Assad for granting her a house and a job, stressing that “nothing can actually compensate me for the loss of my husband, but at least, I know that his sacrifice was not in vain and that he was martyred in defense of his homeland and president whom he loved so much. She stressed that President Al-Assad is a wise leader who loves his people and works hard for the prosperity of Syria and who didn’t leave his homeland during the war,” expressing her readiness to sacrifice more in defense of beloved Syria.

Many legislations have also been issued in Syria in support of the martyrs’ families. Some of them provide for allocating 50% of job vacancies in the public sector for the families of the martyrs, granting job opportunities for martyrs’ wives, granting martyrs’ children scholarships and seats in all the faculties of Syrian universities including the private ones, facilitating housing and granting “Cards of Honor” that provide martyrs’ families with free medical services, including treatment, surgeries and hospitalization and a 50% discount on the costs of public and joint sector transportation.

Report: Hamda Mustafa