Portugal Colonial - More than half of Syrian children out of school: Save the Children to AFP

The overwhelming majority of Syrian children are also in need of immediate humanitarian assistance including food, the charity said, with at least half of them requiring psychological help to overcome war trauma.

"Around 3.7 million children are out of school and they require immediate action to reintegrate them in school," Rasha Muhrez, the charity's Syria director, told AFP in an interview from the capital Damascus, adding "this is more than half of the children at school age".

While Syrians have endured more than a decade of conflict, the rapid rebel offensive that toppled president Bashar al-Assad on December 8 caused further disruption, with the UN reporting more than 700,000 people newly displaced.

"Some of the schools were used as shelters again due to the new wave of displaced people," Muhrez told AFP.

The war, which began in 2011 after Assad's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, has devastated Syria's economy and public infrastructure leaving many children vulnerable.

Muhrez said "about 7.5 million children are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance".

"We need to make sure the children can come back to education, to make sure that they have access again to health, to food and that they are protected," Muhrez said.

"Children were deprived of their basic rights including access to education, to healthcare, to protection, to shelter," by the civil war, but also natural disasters and economic crises, she said.

- 'Trauma' -

Syria's war spiralled rapidly from 2011 into a major civil conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

More than one in four Syrians now live in extreme poverty according to the World Bank, with the deadly February 2023 earthquake bringing more misery.

Many children who grew up during the war have been traumatised by the violence, said Muhrez.

"This had a huge impact, a huge traumatic impact on them, for various reasons, for losses: a parent, a sibling, a friend, a house," she said.

According to Save the Children, around 6.4 million children are in need of psychological help.

Muhrez also warned that "continued coercive measures and sanctions on Syria have the largest impact on the Syrian people themselves".

Syria has been under strict Western sanctions aimed at Assad's government, including from the United States and European Union, since early in the war.

On Sunday, Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa expressed hope that the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions.

"It's very difficult for us to continue responding to the needs and to reach people in need with limited resources with these restrictive measures," she said.

J.Pereira--PC