The academic year for Armenian schools in Syria will begin in two weeks. Many will find themselves in a bind because they will be unable to pay the school fees. In the last school year and in Armenian schools in general, 15 out of 100 students were children.

The schools have always been open — thanks to the help of individual benefactors, and particular institutions and associations. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has greatly helped all Armenian schools… now will it continue to provide assistance or has a decision been made to stay away from the East and Syria in particular?

According to the Ministry of Education, admission is to begin on Sept. 16. This date remains under question considering that 100 schools in Aleppo today are resided in by inhabitants of neighborhoods that have become war zones. On the other hand, the general security situation doesn't much allow for admission of the 2012–2013 academic year.

There are many issues of concern on the threshold of admission. Hundreds of families are unable to secure their daily bread, considering people are unemployed for nearly more than a year. And if in the last month the stores open, they will open simply so that people can leave the house for a bit, to see and speak to each other. People won't be able to pay the school tuition, while those who can have already taken their children to other countries for one year for now… many among those who have left are those who would pay the tuition of not only their children, but also one or two others in need…

There are also security issues. Experts say that children gathered in a school are an easy target for an act of terrorism, and it's for this reason that parents don't know what to do. Some have already moved to neighboring Lebanon and will try to register their children for this school year in schools there, "till we see what will happen."

The refugees will try to secure reduced fees from the schools, but that too is also questionable, while for university tuition there isn't a door left unknocked. Armenian organizations in Lebanon will try to help, at least with work if not financially, but of course the main issue will remain the financial. If one or two months ago the primary issue was safety and security, now it's financial means, and Lebanon's Armenian community is unable to financially support the Syrian-Armenian community or those fleeing Syria to Lebanon.