Return of the New School Year in Syria

SadaNews - Educational and teaching staff in Syria are preparing to start a new school year, the first since the fall of the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, amid enormous challenges and new curricula.

The beginning of this school year represents a symbolic turning point in the lives of Syrians; it is seen as more than just a return to classrooms and is regarded as a new opportunity to rebuild education as a vital institution in society, away from the framework that the Assad regime maintained for more than half a century in the course of Syrian education.

With the amendments made by the ministry to the curricula, parents and students hope to receive a new educational model that moves away from the traditional method relying on memorization and rote learning, towards automation.

One Class at a Time

Director of Education at the Ministry of Education, Muhammad Saeed Qaddour, stated that the ministry has launched the "Category B" education program, which allows students to skip two grades in one year, aiming to quickly integrate them into the educational process and help them keep pace with their studies.

Qaddour explained in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the immediate printing of textbooks has started to meet the needs of the new school year, along with transferring furniture from schools with a surplus to those facing shortages of equipment.

He pointed out that schools were directed to facilitate the admission processes for returning students in primary education who do not have all their documents, emphasizing that there will be no need to attest papers from embassies.

“Free from Assad”

In line with the decision issued by the Syrian Ministry of Education to define the curricula approved for the 2025/2026 academic year, which mandates the removal of all references and symbols associated with the Assad regime, particularly in social studies, Islamic education, history, and geography.

The implementation will also continue with the decision issued last January, which calls for the definitive removal of the national education subject from the approved curricula, as part of extensive amendments viewed as related to the Baath Party and its previous regime in Syria.

History teacher Muhammad Bakour stated that "removing everything related to the fallen regime is a correct measure," calling for the addition of segments to discuss the Syrian people's revolution and their struggle for liberation from the dictatorial regime.

Bakour added in a conversation with Al Jazeera Net that the era of Baath and the Assad family in Syria is a "black mark" and should be taught in new curricula in an objective manner to reveal the truths to the coming, and even previous generations, highlighting how this family turned the country into their "private farm."

For his part, Arabic language teacher Omar Al-Mohammad confirmed that the old curricula glorified the father and son Assad as "heroes in war and peace," especially through poems and stories that were "inserted into the Arabic language curriculum, in a manner close to forgery and distortion of facts."

Sufferings of Parents

Despite the historical change with the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, the start of the school year in Syria represents a major ordeal for parents due to the rising prices of school uniforms, books, notebooks, and other supplies, as this stage poses a heavy financial burden on families amidst the difficult living conditions faced by millions of Syrians in a war-torn country.

For instance, the price of school uniforms exceeds 180,000 Syrian pounds (with the dollar equal to 11,500 pounds), which is a large amount for most low-income families that struggle to afford these clothes, sometimes amounting to a full month’s salary to prepare several children in a single family.

Abdul Rahman Hallak, a government employee from Aleppo, stated that the costs for his two children enrolled in primary education exceed his monthly salary, not including the cost of the books and school supplies that further increase the expenses of the school year.

Hallak pointed out in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that he is forced to recycle clothes from previous years between his children by making alterations with a tailor to fit his youngest child, thus saving half of the amount needed for new school clothing.

Source: Al Jazeera