This story was first published on UNICEF's website.

Al-Safira city, rural Aleppo, Syria: “The chances of me surviving were very slim. But I made it and I strive to overcome all the odds,” said Nizar, 15.

Nizar was 5, playing with his siblings when a bullet hit his head, broke his skull, and left him with hemiplegia. He grew up not being able to move his right leg and with difficulties articulating speech.

His family lives in Safira city in rural Aleppo. While they struggled with displacement, economic hardship and escalating violence, their biggest challenge was to cope with Nizar’s injury.

As a result of the traumatic event, Nizar became afraid of the sounds of shooting. He couldn’t tolerate the situation, consequently, he became isolated and sad. Also, his classmates exacerbated his struggles by subjecting him to bullying, making his life more difficult.

“My peers used to make fun of me saying that I walk like a robot,” said Nizar explaining his daily distress. “I never wanted to leave the house,” he added, justifying his frequent absences from school.

Nizar’s mother tried hard to support her son’s education. She enrolled herself in grade nine, to encourage him to keep going to school. “I told him that his bright mind is more visible than his disability. Nizar’s education is my top priority, I will not allow him to drop out of school under any circumstances,” she said.

Despite the mother’s immense efforts, Nizar’s injury which had not fully healed, caused him occasional hospitalizations, and more school absences.

“His education gap became huge. Nizar needed additional support to achieve his goal and keep learning,” the mother explained. She heard from her neighbour about a UNICEF-supported learning center in the city that helps children compensate for studies they missed. She enrolled him immediately and he joined the UNICEF-supported remedial classes for grade 12.

“The support he received in the center is invaluable,” said the mother, who enrolled his two sisters as well. Remedial class is a non-formal education program, designed to help children at risk of dropping out and out-of-school children to catch up and continue learning.

At the center, Nizar discovered a friendly and positive atmosphere, and most importantly, a pathway to accomplishing his goal.

“I am heard here! Everyone is nice to me. The teacher is amazing, and my classmates are very supportive,” he said excitedly. “I sense improvement in my studies every day, and I am confident that I will perform well when the national exam comes,” he chimed in.

“We have fun coming together to the center. We also study and compete at home. We are all doing well, but honestly, Nizar is the smartest,” Hiba, one of Nizar’s sisters, commented.

After receiving the needed support, Nizar was able to focus on the positive aspects of life, he set ambitious goals for himself.

“When I focus on the power of my education, I feel excited and forget about my injury. I picture big dreams for myself,” he added. “I want to become a doctor in the future. I witnessed the important role the doctors play, and I want to do the same,” said Nizar proudly.

In 2023, UNICEF reached some 95,300 children with remedial classes. The support was possible with the contributions from Education Cannot Wait; EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO); German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KFW Development Bank; Global Partnership for Education, Governments of Australia, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, and Norway; UNICEF Committee for Germany; the Swedish International Development Agency; and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.