Syria's school curriculum changes spark backlash as country navigates post-Assad transition

Critics say proposals reflect more Islamic slant and remove references to Assad regime

Children in a classroom in Damascus. Syria's Education Ministry has posted proposed curriculum changes for all age groups. Reuters

The new Syrian government's attempt to revise the national school curriculum has sparked a widespread backlash, with critics saying the changes reflect a more Islamic orientation while dropping references to the Assad era.

The Facebook page of the transitional government's education ministry has posted the proposed changes for all age groups. They include reinterpreting a Quranic verse about those who angered God and strayed, explicitly identifying them as “Jews and Nasara”, the latter a term often regarded as derogatory towards Christians. Additional changes involve removing poetry celebrating themes of love and women, and eliminating a chapter on “the origins and evolution of life”.

The modifications, across all subjects, also redefine the word “martyr” from someone who died for their homeland to someone who sacrificed themselves “for the sake of God”. Among other changes, the phrase “defending the nation” has been replaced by “defending Allah”.

While students in Syria under Bashar Al Assad's rule received a solid education, particularly in mathematics, physics and other sciences, Syrian political scientist Azzam Al Kassir said the system “also served as a tool for ideological indoctrination, designed to propagate the regime’s narrative and normalise its political agenda”.

The new Syrian government took over after Mr Al Assad was toppled by rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) almost a month ago. HTS is made up mainly of groups from the extremist organisation Jabhat Al Nusra, which was previously linked to Al Qaeda. In 2016, HTS broke those ties with Al Qaeda and rebranded itself after a purge by the group's leader Ahmad Al Shara, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani.

Mr Al Shara has, in recent weeks, sought to distance HTS from Al Qaeda, touting a new government that thrives on tolerance and inclusivity.

According to the Facebook post, the proposed changes would apply to all schoolchildren aged from six to 18. While some adjustments, such as the removal of content glorifying Mr Al Assad’s regime, were welcome to those reacting online, the religious chapter modifications have sparked outrage on social media.

References to Bashar Al Assad and his father Hafez were “pervasive” in the former educational system, linking directly to the “political objectives and propaganda” of the previous government, Mr Al Kassir told The National.

“Understandably, after the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime, it became necessary to remove such explicit endorsements of the regime,” he explained, adding that the new government had, however, exceeded this mandate with the recent changes.

Users questioned why an interim government is amending the curriculum, while others rejected what they perceived as attempts to “erase” parts of the country’s history.

In response to the public outcry, Minister of Education Nazir Al Qadri sought to clarify the rationale behind the proposed changes. He said the revisions aimed to eliminate content glorifying the Assad regime and to address “misinterpretations” of religious texts.

“The curricula in all Syrian schools will remain as is until specialised committees are formed to review and audit” them, he said. “We have only ordered the deletion of parts glorifying the defunct Assad regime, and we have adopted pictures of the Syrian Revolution flag instead of the defunct regime flag.”

The specialised committee to look into the entire education system is likely to be formed via the Syria National Dialogue Conference expected to take place this month.

Experts such as Mr Al Kassir and Rahaf Aldoughli, a lecturer in Mena studies at the UK's Lancaster University, agree that the proposed changes to the education system, along with their speed and abruptness, are concerning.

Speaking to The National, Ms Aldoughli, who conducted research on education and life under the rule of HTS in Idlib in 2019, said the parallels are clear. “The caretaker government didn’t come up with this now, or even recently,” she said. “They went back to what was being taught in Idlib.”

Concern over the changes stems from what appears to be an attempt to “shape the imagination of the Syrian identity”, through educational indoctrination, she said.

The legality of the changes is also questionable, she argued. “It’s quite dangerous and disappointing to see the caretaker government making these changes at such an early time, before even we have the national conference … These changes should take place after consensus over how and what type of political system we will have in the future.”

“If it only takes three days to change the [school] curriculum, why does it take three years to draft the constitution?” a user asked on Facebook.

Mr Al Shara has said that organising elections in Syria could take up to four years, while drafting a new constitution might require three years.