Syria

Original Re.ViCa entry by Paul Bacsich. Updated to VISCED level by Nikos Zygouritsas of Lambrakis

For entities in Syria see Category:Syria

Partners situated in Syria

None.

Syria in a nutshell

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria)

Source : http://www.cia.gov

Syria (Arabic: سورية‎ Sūriya or Sūrya), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (الجمهورية العربية السورية), is an Arab country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north.

The population of Syria is just under 20 million (July 2008 estimate).

The modern state of Syria was formerly a French mandate and attained independence in 1946, but can trace its roots to the Eblan civilization in the third millennium BC. Its capital city, Damascus, was the seat of the Umayyad Empire and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Empire. Damascus is widely regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.

Syria gained independence in April 1946. Though officially a Republic, Syria has been under Emergency Law since 1963, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for Syrians. It has been governed by the Baath Party since 1963 and the head of state since 1970 has been an Alawite member of the Assad family.

The population is mainly Muslim, of various schools and branches, but with a significant Christian minority.

Syria is divided into fourteen governorates, or muhafazat (singular: muhafazah). The governorates are divided into a total of sixty districts, or manatiq (sing. mintaqah), which are further divided into sub-districts, or nawahi (sing. nahiya).

Most people live in the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density in Syria is about 99 per km² (258 per square mile). According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Syria hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers number approximately 1,852,300.

Syro-Palestinians today are an overall indigenous Levantine people. Genetically, they are most closely related to their immediate neighbours.[49] While modern-day Syrian/Palestinians are commonly categorized as an Arab people (as are most other now Arabic-speaking people in the Arab World) by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history, they are in fact largely a blend of the various groups indigenous to the region who were at that time largely Christian and Aramaic-speaking who became Arabized, and in their large majority, Islamized at the arrival of Arabian Muslims following the Muslim conquest of Syria. Syrians today, whether Muslim or Christian, are a thoroughly Arabized people in terms of culture and language. Together, Syrian Arabs (including some 400,000 UNRWA Palestinians) make up over 90% of the population.

Syria also hosts non-Arabized ethnic minorities. The largest of these groups, the Kurds, constitute about 9% of the population (1,800,000 people). Most Kurds reside in the northeastern corner of Syria and many still speak the Kurdish language. Sizeable Kurdish communities live in most major Syrian cities as well. The majority of Syrian Turkmen live in Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia.

Assyrian/Syriacs Christians are a significant minority that live in the north and northeast (al-Qamishli, al-Hasakah) and number around 700,000 in Syria. Although their numbers have been boosted by many Iraqi refugees since the Iraq War

Armenians number approximately 190,000. Syria holds the 7th largest Armenian population in the world.

In addition, approximately 1,300,000 Iraqi refugees were estimated to live in Syria in 2007. Roughly 50 percent of these refugees were Sunni Arab Muslims, 24 percent Shi'a Arab Muslim, and 20 percent Christian.

Syria's population is approximately 88% Muslim and was 12% Christian, though due to the high stream of refugees from Iraq the percentage of Christians has risen to 20% (Muslim refugees are numerous as well). Among Muslims, 70% are from the Sunni;[50] branch, and are ethnic Arabs, Turks, Kurds, while the rest are divided among other Muslim sects, mainly Alawis (accounting for 20% of the total population) and Druze Isma'ili (6%). There is also a small number of Nizari Isma'ili and Twelver Shi'a. Twelver Shi'a numbers have increased dramatically due to the influx of Iraqi refugees, and are now 10% of the population.

Arabic is the official and most widely spoken language. Kurdish is widely spoken in the Kurdish regions of Syria. Many educated Syrians also speak English and French. Armenian and Turkmen are spoken among the Armenian and Turkmen minorities. Aramaic, the lingua franca of the region before the advent of Islam and Arabic, is spoken among certain ethnic groups: as Syriac, it is used as the liturgical language of various Syriac denominations; modern Aramaic (particularly, Turoyo language and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic) is spoken in Al-Jazira region. Most remarkably, Western Neo-Aramaic is still spoken in the village of Ma`loula, and two neighbouring villages, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Damascus.

Syria education policy

Since 2000 the Government of Syria has significantly increased the expenditure on education. Also as government is the main source for financing education at all stages, the proportion of total government expenditure jumped from 12.6 percent in 2000 to 15.7 percent in 2005, bringing it closer to the average share of education expenditure in the MENA region of 18.3 percent. The total expenditure in the education sector doubled between 2000 and 2005 from SYP 35 billion in 2000 to 72 billion in 2005. During this period, the share of education expenditure to GDP increased from 2.7 percent to 4.3 percent.

Syria ranked 105 out of 179 countries on Human Development Index in 2006.Syria is also one of the few Arab countries that have achieved the target of universal primary education. It is showing remarkable progress in achieving other MDG targets: the gender gap in enrollment is small, with gender parity index of enrollment at primary level at 95 percent and 96 percent at the secondary level in 2007. Literacy rate is estimated at 82 percent in 2004 which is also higher than the average for MENA and lower middle income countries (LMIC ). Literacy among youth (15 to 24) stood at 92.5 percent in 2004.

Education in the Syrian Arab Republic is centralized and the responsibility of supervising,setting the curriculum and goals of teaching, including the interaction and integration of the active teaching elements rests on the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education is responsible for providing educational services to its 14 directorates in the governorates.Each education directorate is responsible for the schools in its governorate.

In 1981, a law was passed to make education compulsory for all Syrian children from grades 1 to 6. In 2002,elementary and primary education were combined into one basic education stage and education was made compulsory and free from grades 1 to 9.

Arabic is the medium of instruction in the Syrian Arab Republic. English is taught from grade 1 in the basic learning stage as the primary second language, and French is taught in grades 7-12. According to the 2007 census, 98 percent of schools in Syria are public, 1.8 percent are private, and 0.2 percent are United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools for children who are refugees.

Syria education system

In 2007, there were 8 million students in the education system of Syria (4 million in basic education, 1.4 million in secondary and 2.3 million in tertiary). Given the current growth rate in the school age population, it is projected that by 2015, the education system in Syria will need to cater for an additional 1 million students in basic and secondary education.

Schools in Syria

The school system in Syria is divided into basic and secondary education levels:

• 1st to 6th grade: Primary Education Level (Arabic: تعليم أساسي حلقة أولى‎)
• 7th to 9th grade: Lower Secondary Education Level (Arabic: تعليم أساسي حلقة ثانية‎)
• 10th to 12th grade: Upper Secondary Education (Arabic: التعليم الثانوي‎), which is the equivalent of High School.

Early Childhood Care and Education(ECCE)

The Government of Syria is also taking charge of providing pre -primary or early childhood education.Up until the early 1990s. ECCE programs were provided by mostly non-governmental institutions of which few belonged to the government sector,while other were either private, run by Teacher's Syndicate,General Union of workers (GUW)or the Women's Federation. In 1990 only 5 percent of the children between the ages of 3 and 5 were enrolled in 793 kindergartens. Ten years later 7.8 percent of that age group was enrolled. Furthermore, the data from the Syrian Ministry of Education shows an increase in the number for kindergartens from 1096 to 1475 in 2004.

Basic Education

The gross enrollment rate in primary education under basic education level in 2000 was 104.3 and it has been steadily rising reaching to about 126.24 percent in 2007. But still the enrollment of females is lower than males. The gender parity index, ratio of female enrollment to male enrollment, since 2006 was 0.955. The enrollment level in all programs at the lower secondary level has been rising significantly since early 2000, with the current gross enrollment rate of 95.3 percent. At the secondary lower level final exams of the 9th grade are carried out nationally at the same time. The result of these exams determines if the student goes to the "general" secondary schools or the technical secondary schools. Technical secondary schools include industrial and agricultural schools for male students, crafts school for female students, and commercial and computer science schools for both.

Secondary Education

The upper secondary education is for 3 years from grade 10 to grade 12.At the beginning of the 11th grade, those who go to "general" secondary school have to choose to continue their study in either the "literary branch" or the "scientific branch". The final exams of the 12th grade (the baccalaureate) are also carried out nationally and at the same time. The result of these exams determines which university, college and specialization the student goes to. To do that the student has to apply through a complicated system called Mufadalah. There are wide regional disparities in post-basic education. There are lower secondary and university enrollments in rural than urban areas. Even the higher income households in rural areas do not have access to post-secondary education opportunites. The secondary gross enrollment rate in 2007 stood at 72 percent, higher than the preceding years and one percentage point higher than the 2007 MENA regional gross enrollment rate at the secondary level.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

At the secondary level , the education system also includes three years of general or vocatinal education. Syria has a relatively large proportion of secondary school students in vocational schools; about 36 percent of total secondary school students in 2004 are in vocational schools. According to UIS the total enrollment in technical and vocational education (both private and public) in 2007 decreased to 103 from 113,994 students in 2006.Out of the total number, 41898 are female students enrolled in TVET. In 1990s, the goevrnment aimed to increase TVET enrollment and at one time decided to allocate 70 percent of the lower secondary graduates to vocational schools, which meant doubling the share of TVET in total enrollment from 20 percent in 1990 to 40 percent in 2000. However, this later proved unsustainable. Then in 2000 a new policy stipulated 50:50 distributions of secondary students between general and vocational secondary education, and this was later decreased to 40 percent. Students enrolled in four main specializations: commercial, industrial, agricultural and handicrafts. The TVET system in Syria is very rigid with no options of reentering the formal school system.

Higher education

Universities

The Ministry of Higher Education was established in 1966 to supervise the scientific and educational institutions, such as, universities, academic councils, the Arabic Language Academy and educational hospitals. Most post-secondary education is state provided, but legislation passed in 2001 allows the establishment of some private universities and colleges. Resources for education have risen in absolute terms over the past decade, but it is difficult to match the rate of population growth. Colleges charge modest fees ($10–20 a year) if the student achieves the sufficient marks in his Baccalaureate exams. If not, the student may opt to pay higher fees ($1500–3000) to enroll. There are some private schools and colleges but their fees are much higher.

Domestic policies emphasize engineering and medicine in Syria’s universities, with less emphasis on the arts, law, and business. Most universities in Syria follow the French model of the high education, the university stages and the academic degrees are:

• First stage: the License awarded after 4 years to 6 years depending on the field.
• Second stage: the DEA or DESS 1–2 years postgraduate degree equivalent to the Master's degree in the American-English systems.
• Third stage: the doctorate 3–5 years after the DEA or an equivalent degree.

Until recently 20 private universities have been given licenses, 14 of which have actually opened the doors and 6 to be opened soon. Private universities will have an independent academic and management structure representing the owner and will be headed by the president of the university. There will also be a university board consisting of either: chancellor, faculty or division.

Public universities

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Syria)

1. Damascus University - in Damascus
2. Syrian Virtual University.
3. Aleppo University - in Aleppo
4. Al-Baath University - in Homs and Hama
5. Tishreen University - in Latakia
6. Furat University - in Deir ez-Zor,Ar-Raqqah and Al-Hasakah
7. Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology (HIAST) - in Damascus
8. Higher Institute of Business Administration - in Damascus
9. Higher Institute of Dramatic Art (Syria) - in Damascus
10. National Institute of Administration - in Damascus

Private universities

(also sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Syria)

1. Private University of Science and Arts in Aleppo.
2. Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, a branch of the academy in Latakia.
3. Maamoun University for Sciences and Technology (MUST) - Al Qamishli and Aleppo
4. University of Kalamoon - Deir Atieh.
5. The Arab European University - in Sahnaia, Damascus-Daraa highway.
6. The Arab American University for Technology (AAUT) - in Aleppo.
7. International University for Science and Technology (IUST) in Damascus - Daraa highway.
8. Al-Andalus University for Medical Sciences - in Tartus (Actually up in the mountains near Qadmous Village).
9. Wadi International University - in Wadi al-Nasara (Christian Vally).
10. The Syrian International University for Science and Technology - in Sahnaia, Damascus-Daraa highway.
11. Al-Ittihad University - in Ar-Raqqah and Aleppo.
12. Al-Hwash University in Al-Hwash - in Homs.
13. Syrian International Academy for Training and Development - in Damascus

Polytechnics in Syria

Colleges charge modest fees ($10–20 a year) if the student achieves the sufficient marks in his Baccalaureate exams. If not, the student may opt to pay higher fees ($1500–3000) to enroll. There are some private schools and colleges but their fees are much higher.

Education reform

The Bologna Process

Not very relevant.

Syria's HEIs in the information society

Information society strategy

See NATIONAL PROFILE OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY IN THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC at http://www.escwa.un.org/wsis/reports/docs/Syria-07-E.pdf (published 2007)

Virtual initiatives

The only well-known one is the Syrian Virtual University (see next).

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

The Syrian Virtual University (الجامعة الإفتراضيّة السوريّة) is a Syrian educational institution established by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education. It provides virtual education (using the internet) to students from around the world. It was established on the 2nd of September 2002 and is the first virtual education institution in the region, and as of 2006, remains the only one. The goals of the SVU include offering education to those who want to learn but cannot afford to do so by going to a "brick and mortar" university. It is headquartered at the Ministry of Higher Education building, Damascus.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

Lessons learnt

It is unwise to set socio-economic parameters that foster the development of an e-university - they occur in a wider range of countries than even many experts suppose.

References

A vital source of information is:

• Higher Education System in Syria - An Overview (2005) - http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/tempus/countries/higher/syria.pdf

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For OER policies and projects in Syria see Syria/OER

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