VOA常速英语:学着去忘记仇恨

After three years out of school, teachers say many students need to relearn basic skills that they used to have,like reading and writing.And teachers say schools are the only way to undo some of the damage IS may have inflicted on the children’s minds.

Education is the key to ending Islamic State ideology.It needs to start with opening schools and teaching them that IS was wrong.We need to pay careful attention to education now because years have been wasted."

Most students are still without schoolbooks, though some are starting to arrive. In advance of placement exams in mid-February,UNICEF says 30 schools in eastern Mosul have opened and 16,000 children are attending.

Children say they are happy to be in school after years at home, often not allowed to go outside because of IS violence.

But more than alleviating boredom, say students, schools gives them back their dreams.

I want to be a doctor because I want to cure sick people.

But the war is far from over and the trauma of the past few years is seen everywhere, especially on the children’s faces.

My father was killed by militants, IS didn’t send us to school.

As Iraqi forces prepare to attack IS positions in western Mosul，across the Tigris River, locals say families there are not even thinking about schools because they are still just trying to stay alive.

Heather Murdock, VOA news, Mosul, Iraq.