The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, in cooperation with the Rif Dimashq Governorate, opened today, Thursday, the Khalid bin Al-Walid Center for Juvenile Care and Rehabilitation in the city of Qudsaya, following the completion of renovation and rehabilitation works that took about a year. The center aims to provide a comprehensive environment for care and rehabilitation, and to enhance educational, pedagogical, health, and vocational services provided to inmates, helping them acquire the necessary skills to integrate into society.
Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Qabawat emphasized in a statement to a SANA correspondent that rehabilitating juveniles is a shared responsibility requiring cooperation and solidarity between government institutions, international organizations, and various concerned parties, to help children who have committed mistakes overcome them and return to society as active individuals. Qabawat explained that the center will provide educational and social programs, along with psychological support services and sports activities, contributing to providing a suitable environment for rehabilitation and training.
For his part, Rif Dimashq Governor Amer Al-Sheikh pointed to the role of the "Rahma La Huduud" (Mercy Without Borders) organization in rehabilitating the center, noting that the center suffered from poor conditions before undergoing renovation and equipping works that contributed to providing multiple facilities to serve inmates. Al-Sheikh clarified that the center includes a school, training clubs, and cultural and health centers, aiming to provide necessary services for juveniles and help them acquire skills that enhance their chances of effective integration into society.
On his part, Director of Social Affairs and Labor in Rif Dimashq Abdul Razzaq Muhammad clarified that the center will receive juveniles aged 16 and above, noting that work will be completed later to rehabilitate another center dedicated to younger age groups. Muhammad pointed out that the center includes sleeping rooms, a school, a cultural center, an indoor sports hall, and outdoor fields, in addition to a kitchen, a dining hall, nursing rooms, and mosques.
He added that the center will offer a comprehensive program for health, educational, academic, and religious rehabilitation, along with vocational and craft training in about eight manual and technical specialties, including carpentry and electricity, aiming to enable juveniles to acquire professions and skills that help them integrate into society and benefit from them after serving their sentences.
On the educational side, Director of Education in Rif Dimashq Fadi Nazhat told a SANA correspondent that the Directorate established a school within the Khalid bin Al-Walid Center for Juvenile Care, aiming to ensure the continuity of the educational process and scientifically rehabilitate inmates, thereby enhancing their chances of integrating into society after the end of their stay in the center. Nazhat explained that the educational program begins with literacy for children who cannot read or write, then teaching the basics of arithmetic, mathematics, and the Arabic language, in addition to opening a ninth-grade branch that allows students to take basic education certificate exams.
As part of the government's interest in juveniles, the Ministry of Culture opened last year the Cultural Center at the Al-Ghazali Institute for Juvenile Care and Rehabilitation in the Qudsaya area, a step aimed at utilizing culture as a tool for rehabilitation and enhancing opportunities for reintegrating delinquent children into society through educational and creative programs that contribute to building awareness and reshaping their life paths.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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