Children in a school in the Doueilaa neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 15, 2024. (Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP)
In post-Assad Syria, every announcement from the new interim government, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is scrutinized for its implications for the country’s future. The latest concerns a reform of the school curriculum, detailed on the Ministry of Education’s Facebook page on Jan. 1, 2025. Spanning 12 pages of “adjustments,” the reforms were intended to take effect this year and applied to the curriculum from the first grade to the baccalaureate level. De-Baathification or Islamization?Among the key changes drawing attention were the removal of scientific teachings on the theory of evolution and the omission of certain historical sequences. For instance, Syrian students would no longer study the presidency of Shukri al-Quwatli (1943–1949) or the story of the legendary Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. HTS, backed by Ankara, was also...
In post-Assad Syria, every announcement from the new interim government, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is scrutinized for its implications for the country’s future. The latest concerns a reform of the school curriculum, detailed on the Ministry of Education’s Facebook page on Jan. 1, 2025. Spanning 12 pages of “adjustments,” the reforms were intended to take effect this year and applied to the curriculum from the first grade to the baccalaureate level. De-Baathification or Islamization?Among the key changes drawing attention were the removal of scientific teachings on the theory of evolution and the omission of certain historical sequences. For instance, Syrian students would no longer study the presidency of Shukri al-Quwatli (1943–1949) or the story of the legendary Queen Zenobia of Palmyra. HTS, backed by Ankara,...
