Rebuilding Syria’s training system isn’t just about restoring lecture rooms, however about providing an opportunity for a misplaced era to rebuild their lives and safe a greater future for the nation.
For over a decade, the Syrian battle has forged a shadow over the way forward for a whole era. The battle started in 2011 as a part of a wider wave of uprisings within the Arab world, with Syrians protesting the oppressive rule of President Bashar al-Assad. What began as peaceable demonstrations shortly escalated right into a brutal struggle, pitting opposition teams, together with extremist organizations just like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and international powers towards the Assad regime and its supporters in Russia and Iran. The following violence and destruction has resulted in one of the largest refugee displacements since World Battle II, with over 5.6 million Syrians looking for refuge in neighboring international locations and past, and over 7.4 million displaced internally.
Syrian youngsters—as soon as stuffed with desires of careers in drugs, science, and the humanities—have had their training upended. The struggle destroyed or severely damaged almost 50 p.c of the nation’s faculties, leaving tens of millions of kids with out entry to training. Disadvantaged of their proper to study, develop, and put together for a greater future, these youngsters are susceptible to changing into a “lost generation,” help teams have frightened.
Though lastly over, the battle has left the whole nation fractured and struggling to rebuild. Nonetheless, with the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, a novel alternative now exists to rebuild not simply Syria’s infrastructure and political techniques, however the very basis of its future: training.
“The deterioration of training in Syria stands as one of the profound penalties of the extended 14-year battle,” Radwan Ziadeh believes. A senior analyst on the Arab Heart in Washington, D.C., Ziadeh can be founding father of the Damascus Heart for Human Rights Research. “Addressing and prioritizing the restoration and reform of the training system is important for the nation’s restoration and long-term stability.”
Nonetheless, this chance is fraught with challenges. Regardless of the great potential for Syria now, there are important issues concerning the nation’s future. The emergence of latest energy dynamics and competing pursuits may affect the route of instructional reforms. Amid these complexities, rebuilding an training system that meets the wants of displaced youth and others who’ve spent years in uncertainty would require cautious planning and coordination amongst all stakeholders.
Syria’s Schooling System: A Snapshot Earlier than the Battle
To rebuild efficiently, Syria might want to study from the strengths and weaknesses of its pre-war training system. Earlier than the struggle, Syria’s training system was thought of one of the developed within the Arab world, marked by important funding and broad entry. In 2009, Syria allotted 5.1 percent of its GDP to training, significantly greater than most different Arab international locations even in 2022, reflecting the federal government’s concentrate on strengthening its instructional infrastructure.
Elementary training, which spanned grades 1 to six, was free and obligatory in pre-war Syria, and enrollment at that stage reached almost 100 percent by the point the battle started. Secondary training, the place pre-war enrollment reached 70 p.c, was largely public and free, though college students may pay charges to entry sure applications based mostly on educational efficiency. By 2014, over 2.5 million college students have been enrolled in elementary training, with almost 3 million in secondary training. (To study extra, learn “Education in Syria.”)
Greater training was additionally state funded, with seven public universities and 20 personal. One of the crucial distinguished establishments within the area, Damascus College, based in 1923, attracted college students from throughout the Arab world. By the 2012/13 educational 12 months, about 659,000 college students have been enrolled in each private and non-private increased training establishments.
Regardless of its many successes, Syria’s training system confronted a lot of broadly acknowledged challenges. For instance, a defining function of Syria’s pre-war training system was the usage of Arabic because the language of instruction in any respect ranges, not solely elementary and secondary training but additionally increased training. All disciplines—together with drugs, engineering, and the sciences—have been taught in Arabic. Whereas this coverage was meant to advertise the nationwide language, it additionally confronted criticism, notably in increased training, as many Arab countries use English in scientific disciplines. Some critics argued that reliance on Arabic restricted college students’ entry to global academic research and hindered their capacity to take part in worldwide educational {and professional} communities, the place English or different languages have been generally used.
In Syria’s extremely centralized increased training system, political interference, together with political management over admissions and workers appointments, was additionally commonplace. “The training system was closely influenced by the ideological preferences of the ruling regime, typically leading to an strategy that centered extra on indoctrination than important pondering,” stated Talal al-Shihabi, an engineering professor at Damascus College who obtained a doctoral diploma from Northeastern College, in the US.
The system additionally confronted structural problems, comparable to overcrowded lecture rooms, outdated curricula, and restricted analysis capability. “The college admission coverage, which aimed to accommodate numerous college students, contributed to a decline within the general high quality of training,” based on Al-Shihabi. “This problem was additional exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and restricted human assets, hindering the power to offer high quality training for all college students.”
Lastly, though public increased training was nominally free, the rise of personal universities and paid pathways into public universities, comparable to parallel and open studying, led to larger numbers of scholars paying charges. By 2009, 44 p.c of scholars have been paying charges. This shift deepened social inequalities, as entry to training grew to become more and more depending on one’s monetary assets, with solely those that may afford to pay increased charges gaining enrollment.
“In actuality, the success of training in Syria was largely pushed by the person efforts of Syrians to study and develop expertise, fairly than by the training system itself,” al-Shihabi stated.
Destruction of Academic Infrastructure Resulting from Battle
The battle modified Syria’s training system profoundly. Throughout the nation, preventing severely broken infrastructure, together with faculties, universities, and academic amenities. Academic establishments have been targeted, both straight by bombings or not directly by way of the breakdown of native safety and governance. UNICEF and different worldwide our bodies have reported that greater than 7,000 faculties have been broken or destroyed by the preventing, with many situated in probably the most affected areas: Aleppo, Idlib, and Daraa.
The struggle induced large displacement of scholars and lecturers, each inside Syria and to neighboring international locations. Greater than 7.4 million Syrians have been internally displaced, whereas 5.6 million sought refuge overseas, based on the UNHCR. In consequence, tens of millions of kids and younger adults have been lower off from the chance to acquire an training.
Refugee youngsters, particularly in international locations like Jordan, Lebanon, and Türkiye, confronted overcrowded lecture rooms and a scarcity of instructional assets, exacerbating the difficulties concerned in persevering with their research. In lots of circumstances, refugee youngsters needed to cope with language obstacles, lack of certified lecturers, and shoddy amenities.
Persevering with or accessing college training has confirmed much more tough for Syrian refugees, particularly for these missing enough documentation, comparable to delivery certificates, identification, and educational data, which are sometimes misplaced or unavailable. (Learn two associated articles: “The Importance of Higher Education for Syrian Refugees” and “The Refugee Crisis and Higher Education: Access Is One Issue. Credentials Are Another.”)
Moreover, in some international locations, like Lebanon and Türkiye, Arabic isn’t the medium of instruction. In these international locations, college students are required to reveal proficiency within the language of instruction earlier than enrolling, creating yet one more barrier to increased training.
Financing can be a standard hurdle. Nations like Jordan and Lebanon deal with refugees as if they’re worldwide college students and cost them excessive tuition charges. Since 2015, a wave of scholarships from European organizations has provided some monetary reduction, however the funding has not been sufficient to satisfy the wants of all refugees. And as philanthropic support declined over the next years, the curiosity in college training amongst Syrian refugee college students additionally waned. Many Syrian refugees in neighboring international locations, the place job opportunities after graduation were limited, started to question the value of a degree and to redirect their restricted assets in the direction of discovering a way to migrate to Europe as a substitute. Though instructional alternatives for refugees in European international locations, for many who reached one, have been higher, college training remained pricey and unattainable for a lot of.
“Schooling was merely centered on entry on the expense of high quality and continuity whereas being approached in a clustered method fairly than being holistic and built-in with safety, psychosocial assist, and oldsters’ engagement,” stated Massa Al-Mufti, founder and president of the Sonbola Group for Education and Development, which helps refugee training in Lebanon. “This restricted view ignored the truth that training in emergencies isn’t just about literacy and numeracy, it requires an understanding of the broader wants of the youngsters, wants that embody social, emotional, and household engagement,” she defined.
Kids who remained in Syria all through the struggle confronted their very own difficulties. The fragmentation of the nation’s training system into regime-controlled and opposition-held areas additional sophisticated issues, leading to a disjointed sector with various ranges of entry and high quality.
In areas below opposition control, faculty closures have been widespread. Academics, dealing with threats from each authorities forces and armed opposition teams, struggled to show. In some areas, opposition teams, together with ISIS, imposed their own education policies, limiting or altering curricula to align with their ideology.
Nonetheless, new universities did emerge in non-regime-controlled areas, however they confronted difficulties, together with an absence of recognition, inadequate assets, and a scarcity of certified educational workers. This has additional fractured the academic system in Syria, leaving massive parts of the scholar inhabitants with out entry to an accredited training.
In areas managed by the Assad regime, officers more and more militarized the upper training sector, utilizing it as a device to regulate and suppress opposition actions. The regime intensified its management over universities, with safety apparatuses, together with Assad’s Ba’ath Party and the National Security Bureau, rising their affect. College students and college members opposing the federal government have been subjected to violence, purges, and imprisonment, whereas educational freedom was stifled.
The struggle additionally led to an increase in corruption within the education sector. Stories of forged certificates, bribery for grade manipulation, and favoritism in college admissions have been frequent, particularly with the federal government’s rising reliance on loyalty to the regime as a situation for entry to training and job alternatives. This deepened social inequalities, notably for college students who didn’t have the monetary means or political connections to safe locations at universities.
Regardless of the destruction and displacement, the variety of college students enrolling in increased training elevated in government-controlled areas, partly due to relaxed entrance insurance policies geared toward protecting college students occupied and delaying their potential army conscription. In recent times, the variety of enrolled college students reached roughly 600,000, though training high quality had plummeted.
Mind drain, with many qualified academics fleeing the nation, has additional deteriorated the academic atmosphere, leaving universities understaffed and underfunded. The continuing political isolation of Syria, compounded by Western sanctions, has shifted the nation’s educational relationships to different allies, comparable to Russia and Iran.
“The rise within the variety of college students coincided with a scarcity of certified lecturers. A major variety of these despatched overseas for doctoral research earlier than the struggle didn’t return, and the restricted availability of scholarship alternatives, exacerbated by sanctions and the nation’s isolation, has additional lowered the pool of certified new candidates,” stated al-Shihabi. “In consequence, some specialised fields, comparable to engineering and well being disciplines, are left with only a few instructing workers members over the past decade,” he famous.
“Over the previous 14 years, persevering with training inside Syria has been a relentless battle for each college students and lecturers. The continuing lack of safety, deteriorating residing circumstances, and the collapse of infrastructure have led to an unprecedented decline within the high quality of training, leading to a disaster of immeasurable proportions,” he stated.
Rebuilding Syria’s Schooling Put up-Assad
On December 8, 2024, opposition rebels superior on Damascus and compelled the collapse of the Assad regime. The Assad household fled to Russia. The rebels have since been within the strategy of making an attempt to take management of the nation and kind a brand new authorities.
The autumn of the Assad regime presents Syria with a novel alternative to rebuild after over a decade of battle. Regardless of widespread destruction, faculties and universities resumed operations shortly after the regime’s collapse, highlighting the resilience of Syria’s training sector. The federal government has additionally reinstated college students expelled for political causes, signaling a dedication to reconciliation.
Moreover, the brand new authorities has taken steps to take away any vestiges of the Assad rule. It has already begun revising the nationwide curriculum, eradicating content material tied to the previous regime. Universities, comparable to Tishreen College in Latakia and Al-Baath College in Homs, have been renamed, to Latakia College and Homs College, respectively, to distance themselves from the Assad regime’s Ba’athist ideology. On the similar time, the brand new authorities, composed largely of Islamist teams, has sparked controversy as a result of rising affect of Islamist themes within the new curriculum.
Important work stays to totally capitalize on the chance to rebuild the nation’s training system. A important problem within the rebuilding course of is addressing the tens of millions of kids who missed years of education throughout the battle. The return of refugees, lots of whom have spent years in exile, additional complicates this process. Many of those youngsters are academically behind, having missed important years of training. Specialised assist can be obligatory to assist these returnees catch up academically, culturally, and psychosocially. Trauma-informed instructing and psychological well being assist can be essential to make sure efficient reintegration into lecture rooms. Language obstacles additionally pose a big problem, as many returnee college students at the moment are fluent in languages comparable to English, French, or Turkish, making it tough for them to adapt to the native curriculum in Arabic. Addressing these gaps by way of focused language applications can be essential for the returnees’ profitable reintegration.
Al-Shahabi emphasizes the necessity for a complete survey to evaluate each materials harm within the training sector and human losses, highlighting the numerous scarcity of instructing workers on account of emigration throughout the struggle, the suspension of international missions, and the return of those that went overseas.
Al-Shahabi additionally believes that assembly the quick wants of Syria’s youth ought to be prioritized. This contains the event of other instructional pathways, like vocational coaching and on-line studying platforms. Establishing coaching facilities, funding e-learning initiatives, and providing sector-specific workshops will equip college students with the sensible expertise obligatory for Syria’s restoration, notably in key sectors comparable to well being care, building, expertise, and infrastructure restore.
Others echo his ideas. “As we work towards Syria’s restoration, it’s important to concentrate on constructing sensible expertise for youth and providing them alternatives for real-world coaching,” Firas Deeb, government director of Hermon Team, wrote in an e mail.
Deeb was a moderator on the IGNITE Syria: Rise & Rebuild conference held in Damascus on February 15. The convention highlighted different challenges, together with regional disparities that complicate rebuilding efforts throughout the nation. City facilities like Damascus, Aleppo, and Latakia have extra universities nonetheless standing, however the establishments nonetheless depend on outdated curricula. Entry to personal sector internships is proscribed, notably in sure fields. Areas like Hasakah, Tartous, and Qamishli, which get pleasure from some financial stability, present potential in sectors like agriculture and renewable power, however lack adequate vocational coaching applications. In distinction, conflict-affected and rural areas comparable to Idlib, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Southern Syria face severely broken instructional infrastructure, a scarcity of educated lecturers and supplies, and safety dangers that hinder college students’ capacity to pursue increased training.
“Many areas nonetheless lack important assets comparable to electrical energy, clear water, and dependable web, all of that are important for efficient training. Restoring these fundamental utilities have to be prioritized to make sure that rebuilt faculties can operate successfully,” stated Deeb. Nonetheless, he famous, “Rebuilding Syria’s instructional infrastructure is essential, however so too is reshaping curricula and instructing strategies to create a contemporary, inclusive system.”
Others agree. “One of the crucial essential areas for intervention is the skilled improvement of lecturers, which has been uncared for prior to now however is now a prime precedence,” stated Al-Mufti. “Empowering lecturers with superior expertise is significant for driving significant change within the training sector.”
Syria’s future will depend on rebuilding an training system able to making ready its youth to satisfy the challenges forward. In the long run, the system should concentrate on creating its college students’ important pondering, problem-solving, and sensible expertise—key components obligatory for the nation’s reconstruction and for making ready a era to guide Syria’s restoration. Universities will play a key function in coaching future skilled engineers, medical doctors, scientists, and lecturers who will assist restore the nation’s infrastructure and economic system. Moreover, specialised fields comparable to medical take care of struggle victims (together with burn therapy and prosthetics), building, city planning, and expertise can be important in addressing the aftermath of the struggle.
“Rebuilding Syria’s training system goes past restoring establishments—it requires a elementary redesign to align training with financial restoration,” Deeb stated.
Collaborating for Syria’s Academic Restoration
The affect of rebuilding Syria’s training system may prolong past the nation’s borders. It might be a catalyst for stability and peace, providing hope not just for Syria’s future but additionally for the broader area and the world.
“Schooling ought to be prioritized alongside different pressing points comparable to safety and infrastructure, because it holds the potential to function a pathway to peacebuilding and reconciliation,” stated Al-Mufti. “Schooling can play a transformative function in rebuilding Syria and offering its youngsters with the talents wanted for a peaceable future.”
Which means the international community additionally has a pivotal function to play in Syria’s restoration, notably in rebuilding its instructional infrastructure. “After years of isolation, it’s time for Syria to construct partnerships with world universities and training techniques to modernize curricula, emphasizing problem-solving and important pondering. The assist of the worldwide group is important to strengthening the training system,” Ziadeh stated.
Lifting sanctions imposed on the previous authorities can be important to enabling funding to create a steady atmosphere conducive to long-term instructional reforms. This may open avenues for partnerships between Syrian and worldwide universities, permitting for the event of applications tailor-made to the nation’s instructional wants, together with curriculum reform and trainer coaching.
Worldwide organizations like UNESCO and the United Nations will play a pivotal function in offering technical experience and assets to rebuild Syria’s training system. Collaboration with NGOs centered on training will even be important in implementing localized applications for displaced populations and affected communities.
Worldwide cooperation will even be important when addressing the wants of Syrians who have been pressured to flee throughout the struggle. Whereas many advocate the return of refugees to Syria, it is very important acknowledge that the nation is not yet fully stable. Many areas stay insecure, lacking essential services for a secure return. Refugees who’ve constructed lives in different international locations additionally want continued native assist, comparable to scholarships and different technique of entry to instructional program. This may assist make sure that Syria’s subsequent era is provided to contribute to the nation’s restoration. The main target ought to be on offering alternatives for refugees to accumulate beneficial expertise overseas which they’ll carry again to Syria when circumstances enhance.
Finally, Syria’s training system can be central to the nation’s long-term restoration. An informed, empowered youth will play a key function in rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, revitalizing its economic system, and making certain its long-term stability. Investing in scholarships, vocational coaching, and worldwide trade applications will assist rebuild Syria’s instructional identification and equip the following era to guide the nation ahead.
Rebuilding Syria’s training system isn’t just about restoring faculties; it’s about empowering the following era with the instruments to rebuild a greater, extra united Syria. The assist of the worldwide group is important to make this course of inclusive, forward-thinking, and sustainable, making certain that Syria heals and thrives as soon as once more.
