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

Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 11. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. The second 3-year period of academic training is required for university admission. Total enrollment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. The literacy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 86% for males and 73.6% for females.

Syria education system

The strong educational system in Syria was based on the old French system. Education is free in all public schools and obligatory up to the 9th grade. Schools are divided into three levels:

1. 1st to 6th grade: Basic Education Level I
2. 7th to 9th grade: Basic Education Level II
3. 10th to 12th grade: Secondary Education, which is the equivalent of High School.

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.

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.

Higher education

Universities in Syria

Most universities in Syria follow the French model of the high education, the university stages and the academic degrees are:

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

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.

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 Campuses in HE

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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