Syria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Muhammad Abdurahman Turku, announced a set of urgent and practical measures aimed at rapidly restoring and stabilizing the educational process in the Jazeera, the provinces of Raqqa, Hasakah, and Deir Ezzor. The move reflects the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring schooling resumes as quickly as possible and continues on a stable, organized footing.
Central Committee and Immediate Field Action
Minister Turku confirmed the formation of a specialized central committee operating under his direct supervision. The committee includes ministerial assistants and a number of relevant department directors and has already begun its work.
Its tasks include assessing the condition of school buildings, ensuring safety and security standards, identifying needs for teaching and administrative staff, securing textbooks and educational materials, and determining priorities for restoration, maintenance, and essential supplies.
Turku stressed that the committee has been instructed to carry out direct field work, submit periodic reports, and present practical recommendations to restore the educational process to its normal course in the shortest possible time.
The Right to Education and Coordination with Local Authorities
The Minister emphasized the importance of full coordination with all concerned authorities, particularly governors, to ensure integration of efforts and overcome logistical and administrative challenges. He noted providing a safe and supportive learning environment for students and teachers is a national priority that cannot be delayed.
Turku reaffirmed that the Ministry of Education will continue taking all necessary measures to safeguard students’ right to education and enhance the stability of the educational process across all regions, in service of the country’s national interest.
Imposed Curricula and Local Backlash
During its control of large areas in northern and eastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pursued policies that critics say aimed to reshape the cultural identity of the Syrian Jazeera region. This included blocking the internationally recognized national curriculum while teaching the doctrine and philosophy of the PKK’s founder and imposing Kurdish-language curricula in schools, a longstanding issue move widely opposed by local Arab communities.
In a statement to Levant 24, Bashar al-Hammoud, a teacher from Raqqa, said, “Many families chose to send their children to private schools and institutes that teach the Syrian Ministry of Education curriculum, but the so-called ‘Self-Administration’ issued successive decisions to close them. Low-income families were forced to enroll their children in schools run by the SDF and study a Kurdish curriculum that contradicts the customs and values of the people of the region and promotes the separatist ideas of the SDF.”
Hammoud added that for over a decade, an entire generation suffered from weak Arabic-language education due to what he described as an anti-Arab policy, compounded by the appointment of unqualified teaching staff.
He expressed his relief at the return of state authority to Raqqa and praised the Ministry of Education’s swift action, saying these steps are essential to rebuilding a sound educational environment and repairing the damage inflicted on students over years of disruption.
