SAT-7 JOINS A WORLD AT SCHOOL AS PART OF REGIONAL FIGHT AGAINST ISIS INDOCTRINATION OF CHILDREN
15m children in Middle East already out of school; 6m more may follow.
At the start of UN International Refugee Week, SAT-7 today announced that is has signed up to A World at School , the UN backed programme which is trying to get 58m children back in to school. This problem is especially severe in the Middle East, with many thousands displaced by war and in fleeing the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
SAT-7 launched its own on-air school for 4- to 7-year-olds in March, My School, on the SAT-7 KIDS channel (see video below). Across the Middle East it is estimated that 15m children are out of school and a further 6m are at risk of dropping out in the near future.
One of the first things displaced children across the region tell us is how much they miss their school. It is a vital source of hope, friendship and being part of a larger society.
Rachel Fadipe of SAT-7 said “We believe education is the key to the future of the Middle East as it will it broaden children’s horizons and help them to achieve a better socio-economic future. It should also provide an essential counter to the insidious propaganda and indoctrination of ISIS as it relentlessly tries to recruit more children and young people to its barbaric cause.
“One of our priority goals for 2015 is to provide on-air schooling for refugee/displaced children from Syria and Iraq in particular, as well as for those from other parts of the region who cannot access education for other reasons. These include poverty and the custom in some societies of marrying girls off at very young ages.
A World at School is an international organisation that was co-founded by Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister. This is campaigning to get the 58m children who are currently out of school back into education. SAT-7 will encourage people to sign its petition.
Rita Elmounayer, Executive Director of SAT-7 KIDS, said: “When you learn that almost a third of population in the Middle East is under 18, you can imagine what kind of future we would have with frustrated and unemployed youth having few or no skills.
“Education is not only the only hope these young ones have for a better future, but it is our global hope to raise up a new generation of Arabs who are willing to think for themselves, produce more free and democratic societies where people can learn to live together and accept each other. This will help build not only a better Middle East, but a better world! All of these hopes were taken from millions of young people who were forced to flee their schools because of wars, poverty and unrest in the region. SAT-7 tries to fill the gap and work for the future through My School.”