ReutersThere is growing concern in Syria that the new Islamist-led authorities have already decided to make changes to school curricula, without input from the rest of society.
The Facebook page of the Ministry of Education of the transitional government published the new curriculum for all age groups, which will take on a more Islamic character, in addition to dropping any reference to the Assad era in all academic subjects.
The phrase “defend the nation” was replaced with “defend God,” among other changes.
Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri downplayed the importance of this step, saying that the curriculum has not fundamentally changed and will remain so until specialized committees are formed to review and revise it.
Other proposed changes include dropping the theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory from science teaching.
References to the gods who were worshiped in Syria before Islam, as well as images of their statues, were also deleted.
The importance of the great Syrian heroine Queen Zenobia, who ruled Palmyra in Roman times, seems to have been underestimated.
The Assad era has been essentially omitted from the curriculum, including poems glorifying both Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez, in Arabic language courses.
Al-Qadri said in a statement that the only instructions he issued related to removing content that he described as glorifying “the defunct Assad regime” and placing the flag of the Syrian revolution in all textbooks.
The minister also said that “errors” in Islamic education curricula had been corrected.
ReutersSome Syrians welcomed the changes.
But the move set off alarm bells among civil society activists, many of whom returned to Syria for the first time in many years.
They fear this is a signal that their voices – and the voices of groups and communities across the country – may not be heard as the country develops under its new leadership.
There have already been calls for protests ahead of the start of the new term on Sunday.
The activists want to clarify their opposition to any moves by the transitional government to introduce changes to the education system – or any other government institution – without the participation of all segments of Syrian society.
The new authorities have placed much emphasis on the fact that they will hold a national dialogue conference.
Officials have held meetings with many different communities – from Christians to Kurds, to artists and intellectuals.
The message was that they wanted to create a new Syria with the participation of all segments of society so that everyone had a stake in the country's future.
But activists believe that unilateral changes to school curricula undermine such promises and want to get right from the start for the values of freedom and inclusion that the removal of Bashar al-Assad has now made possible.
