The Cost of War: Calculating the impact of the collapse of Syria’s education system on Syria’s future

As we approach the fourth anniversary of the war in Syria, almost three million Syrian children are out of school, putting them at risk of exploitation and threatening their futures. Unless this situation is urgently addressed, the prospects for eventual peace, stability and economic prosperity in Syria look uncertain.

A slow and silent assault on a child is committed each time their right to education is denied. Now new analysis by Save the Children, CfBT Education Trust (CfBT) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) also highlights the devastating economic cost that 2.8 million children missing school is likely to have both on Syria’s children themselves and on the future of their country.

We estimate the direct costs of replacing damaged, destroyed or occupied schools and lost school equipment could be as high as £2 billion ($3 billion). Importantly, we estimate that the long-term impact on Syria’s economy of 2.8 million Syrian children never returning to school could be could be as much as 5.4% of GDP, which equates to almost £1.5 billion ($2.18).

Save the Children is calling on donors, countries who host refugee children from Syria, parties to the conflict in Syria and the international community as a whole to make 2015 the year that we get Syrian children’s futures back on track.