Reform in Syria and Syrian Schoolbooks

Recent months have brought considerable optimism about the changes in Syria since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. President Trump has met with the new Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Shaara, U.S. sanctions on Syria have been lifted, and the United States revoked the terrorist designation of the group al-Shaara led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS. Conversations are ongoing between Syria and the United States, and between Syria and Israel, over solving bilateral problems and opening some kind of relationship.

But a different and deeply interesting light is cast on the kind of Syria al-Shaara wants by studying the changes in Syrian textbooks that are being made under his new regime. A February report by IMPACT-se, the NGO that studies textbooks around the world, should give pause. Here is IMPACT-se’s summary list of major changes:

Officially declared directives:

• Flag change: Replace the current national flag with that of the revolution.

• Complete removal of the subject nationalistic (civic) studies.

• Ottoman Empire: Remove negative references to the Ottoman Empire.

Major undeclared directives, indicating cultural and ideological shifts:

• Removal of Assad-associated content: purge textbooks of any mentions of Assad family members, as well as landmarks and institutions named after them.

• Islamization: Reframe the concept of the martyrdom and introduce Islamic perspectives into science, history, and national identity.

• Rejection of secular and foreign influences: exclusion of "un-islamic" content, such as evolution and humanistic principles or Chinese philosophy, either subjugating them to Islamic teachings aligned with Shari'a law. 

• Gender - Removal of female figures from textbooks: an initial directive that, based on the education decree, is not expected to be implemented systematically across the entire curriculum.

• Omission of references to historic and national figures: a category linked to the wider directive of removing nationalistic content associated with the former regime, or as part of the rewriting of Syria's history to be compatible with the views of the new regime.

Many of these items, such as excising the Assads and changing the flag, are predictable and harmless. Others deserve more attention because they indicate a desire to “Islamicize” the curriculum, including the removal of women. The report states that:

Several examples in the list of intended changes pertain to female figures, and their removal from textbooks, in what is demonstrably another unofficial directive from the new regime. While some of these figures existed, such as the 3rd century Queen Zenobia, the new Ministry of Education claims they were fictitious. Similarly, illustrations of women demonstrating educational concepts are instructed to be removed. The former change may stem from a conservative perception of women’s role in society, while the latter change derives from religious considerations, possibly due to the fact that the illustrated women do not wear a hijab.

More generally, the report states, “the new regime is actively rewriting Syria’s history by removing references to different historical and national figures that are deemed incompatible with its apparent Islamist educational vision.” But some items that should be removed were not slated to come out: “Dalal al-Mughrabi, the Palestinian who led the squad that carried out the 1978 Coastal Road attack on a civilian bus, killing thirty-eight Israelis including thirteen children, is celebrated as a martyr and hero in a Grade 5 Arabic Language textbook. In an oral expression exercise, students are asked to read a poem about "the martyr Dalal al-Mughrabi" and discuss her with classmates.” Will this glorification of murder come out soon? This is one to watch.

With respect to Jews, Christians, and the West, the report states that:

there are very few references to Jews and Zionists. Several examples from the Assad regime textbooks, which remain untouched by the new regime, use antisemitic phrases to depict Jews and Zionists as racist and expansionist…. Western countries are depicted in more virulent terms as violent, blood-thirsty, oppressive warmongers and arms dealers. A particularly concerning change by the new regime highlights negative attitudes towards Jews and Christians; the example relates to a Quranic exegesis linking the phrases “those who have evoked [God’s] anger” and “those who are astray” to Jews and Christians respectively, which is antagonistic to adherents of these faiths.

The IMPACT report concludes that “The significance of these changes cannot be understated. They provide an insight into possibilities of HTS’s return to its original Salafi ideology, considering the Islamization of the curriculum, or could be revealing of the regime’s need to delicately balance its ideals and realpolitik concerns.”

What any nation teaches its children offers deep insights into what it thinks of itself --and of others. The IMPACT-se report explains the way forward:

Once the next edition of textbooks is published, it will be crucial to monitor how the reforms take shape in the curriculum and how the new regime addresses problematic content identified in IMPACT-se’s research on the previous curriculum, which is set to remain unchanged. This includes the glorification of terrorists such as Dalal al-Mughrabi, the encouragement of martyrdom and Jihad, antisemitism and the negative portrayal of Judaism and Zionism, and territorial perceptions of Syrian nationalism and identity, particularly as reflected in maps of Syria. Ultimately, these changes will serve as a key indicator of the regime’s broader ideological direction and its willingness to align with international educational standards.