Educational Aids in Darayya Schools, Shortages Hinder Understanding and Equipment Falls Short

Schools in Darayya, Rural Damascus, are experiencing a shortage of educational aids during the 2025-2026 school year, with clear differences from one school to another in the availability of projectors, laboratories, and libraries, according to field monitoring conducted by Enab Baladi and testimonies from students, parents, and education officials.

People who spoke to Enab Baladi said this shortage affects students’ understanding of some subjects that require practical or visual explanation, especially at the middle and secondary levels.

The picture is not the same across all schools in the city. Testimonies point to partial availability of teaching aids in some schools and institutes, compared with their near-complete absence in others. Education officials also linked this reality to limited resources and the lack of laboratories or suitable halls in some school buildings.

Educational Aids Fall Short of Need

Educational aids are among the tools that help students understand school subjects more clearly, especially those that require practical explanation or visual examples. According to testimonies obtained by Enab Baladi, they also help stimulate classroom interaction and reduce reliance on traditional teaching methods.

Nabil Rahwani, a scientific baccalaureate student at al-Ghouta al-Gharbiya Secondary School, told Enab Baladi that exam preparation is going well at his school. He said it has a laboratory, a screen, and a projector used to explain some lessons.

He added that the school also has maps and science models, in addition to a library available to students, though he noted that the books and topics it contains are still limited.

The principal of al-Ghouta al-Gharbiya Secondary School confirmed that the school has modern educational tools, including a projector and a hall equipped with a smart display screen, which was furnished with support from a development organization and is used to explain some science subjects.

She added that this support helped provide equipment not available to the same extent in many schools in Darayya, along with a school laboratory, teaching boards, and a library available to students. However, the library still needs more books and greater variety in its subjects.

Basic Tools and Uneven Equipment

According to Enab Baladi’s monitoring of a number of schools in Darayya, most educational aids are limited and simple, tending in many cases to be rudimentary rather than modern and integrated.

In some schools, these aids are limited to hand-drawn teaching boards fixed to blackboards or walls. These include anatomical and scientific drawings prepared through local efforts, without display equipment or fully equipped laboratories.

At the Sharia Secondary School, a half-empty library can also be seen, containing a limited number of books and notebooks, reflecting the weakness of reading material available to students.

Even at al-Ghouta al-Gharbiya Secondary School, which appears relatively better than others because of the support it received, observations do not suggest a truly modern environment.

Its shelves and tools remain basic, and its colorful library is limited and scattered in content, alongside a laboratory containing tools, models, and teaching boards that are more organized than in other schools. Even so, these facilities remain closer to basic tools and partial improvement efforts than to an advanced educational infrastructure.

Shifaa, the mother of a student at the Sharia Secondary School, pointed to the role educational aids play in improving students’ understanding of lessons. She said their presence creates interaction inside the classroom and helps deliver information in a faster and simpler way.

She added that her daughter’s school has a projector, a library, and some teaching boards, but it still lacks more modern tools, although in her view it remains better than other schools in this regard.

Differences Between Schools

In other public schools, the picture appears less equipped.

Tuqa Kanakriyah, an 11th-grade student at the Girls’ General Secondary School, said the school has no educational aids or models, noting that there is only a library designated for reading.

At al-Hikma Girls’ School, Ghada Kassah, the mother of a student, described a similar situation. She said the school does not use visual aids to the required extent, and that studying remains heavily dependent on parents, as students need tools that help them absorb information and improve academic achievement.

These testimonies reflect disparities among schools in Darayya, whether in terms of basic equipment or the use of what is already available. They also show that the issue of educational aids in the city cannot be generalized in one form, but rather depends on each school’s resources, the nature of the building, and the level of support it has received.

Private Institutes Better Equipped

In a different account from the reality of some schools, Dana Quraitem, a baccalaureate student at al-Saada Institute, said the tools used at the institute are “excellent.” She explained that the projector and laboratory help students preparing for the baccalaureate exams understand information better and memorize it more quickly, which is reflected in their performance and exam scores.

She added that the difference is clear compared with the schools she previously attended, where teaching aids were almost absent or very limited. Her testimony highlights the gap between private institutes and some public schools in their ability to provide modern teaching tools and a better learning environment.

Limited Resources Explain the Problem

According to testimonies obtained by Enab Baladi, the weakness of educational aids in a number of Darayya schools is linked to limited available resources, as well as the lack of prior preparation in some school buildings, whether in terms of laboratories or halls designated for practical explanation.

In this context, Mohammad Daghmoush, a ninth-grade student, said his Sharia school lacks a laboratory and a projector that would help explain school subjects, making some lessons more difficult for students, especially when the subject requires application or direct observation.

The same observation was repeated by some school principals in Darayya, who noted that educational aids are absent in most schools and that schools generally suffer from a shortage of resources and equipment.

Some of them explained that certain schools have only one projector that was previously distributed by Ghirass Foundation, while other schools lack a laboratory, a reading hall, or even suitable administrative offices.

These accounts show that the shortage is not limited to modern educational aids alone, but in some cases extends to the basic school infrastructure itself, limiting schools’ ability to provide a more integrated educational environment.

Equipment Distributed, but Needs Remain Greater

Amer Shamashan, director of the Western Ghouta Educational Complex, told Enab Baladi that laptops and projectors were distributed to all Darayya schools at the beginning of the school year, in cooperation with Ghirass Development Foundation.

He added that some newly opened schools have not yet received projectors because they are newly established. He named Mohammad Said al-Sheikh Khalil School, Darayya al-Muhaddatha al-Gharbiya Boys’ School, and Future Pioneers School.

This shows that some of the tools have indeed been secured, but that has not fully resolved the problem, either because some schools are newly established or because the need is greater than what is available. The presence of a device alone does not necessarily mean that the required educational environment is complete unless it is accompanied by laboratories, halls, and supporting equipment.

To read the article in Arabic, click here:

الوسائل التعليمية في مدارس داريا.. نقص يحد من الفهم وتجهيزات لا تكفي

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